


Something to Believe In

by allweseeislight



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 29
Words: 137,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23912737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allweseeislight/pseuds/allweseeislight
Summary: When Hope Mikaelson gets into trouble at school, she is threatened with expulsion, until her Aunt gets her out of it by making a deal that she signs up for the school musical. She signs up for the musical and avoids expulsion, but the problem is, she and Josie Saltzman, the lead, can’t stand each other. But when new threats arise, the two girls realize that they may just need each other, even more than they think.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 367
Kudos: 538





	1. Unprodigal Daughter

Hope Mikaelson sat outside Principal Saltzman’s office, tapping her feet against the floor. It had been stupid, but she’d still done it. She’d thrown that girl out a window. Aunt Rebekah was going to kill her. It hadn’t been an intentional window throwing. The girl had picked a fight with her, and Hope had retaliated by pushing her, but just her luck, the push went too far, and she went soaring. Luckily for her, she wasn’t too hurt, just a few cuts. But this was her third offense of the year. Principal Saltzman wasn’t going to go easy on her this time. The door to the office opened and he stepped out.

“Hope, why don’t you come on in?” he said. He sounded solemn. Hope got out of her seat and joined him inside. She sat in her usual seat and asked,

“How long am I suspended for? A week? Two?”

“You’re not suspended, Hope,” he said. That was a shock.

“What do you mean?” she asked. He sighed and said,

“We’ve reached the end of the line, Hope. This is your third incident like this in the year. School policy says that expulsion is the only option at this point.” Hope’s face paled,

“Wait wait, you can’t do that. I need to go to school, I’ll apologize, and pay the medical bills. I’ll even pay to repair the window!”

“Oh you will, but I’m sorry Hope. I can’t budge on this.” Aunt Rebekah came in a few moments later, saw Alaric and Hope and asked,

“Alaric what is going on here?”

“I thought I told you on the phone, Rebekah. She’s used up all her chances, I have no choice but to expel her.” Hope shrunk away from her Aunt’s glare.

“Ric, we’ve known each other for a long time. I can assure you, I will deal with Hope’s behavior, but you can’t kick her out.”

“What do you want me to do, Rebekah? I have to take that girl to the hospital. No parents will want their children in school with someone who can hurt the school community like that.”

“Then what if she does something to improve the community and give back?”

“Yeah,” Hope piped in, “I can do service, pick up trash, anything.” Rebekah nodded. Alaric took a second to think before saying,

“Now that I think about it, there is something you could do.” Hope breathed a sigh of relief, and Rebekah gave her a squeeze on the shoulder. Alaric opened the drawer to his desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it to Hope and said, “This is a sign up sheet for the school play. I’d like you to join. I think it would do you some good.” Hope would have said yes, had it not been for the girl who was currently going out for the lead.

“No, absolutely not,” she said.

“Hope,” Rebekah said warningly, but she continued,

“I’m not doing some stupid play with her,” she said in disgust.

“Hope, it’s the play or expulsion. Your choice,” Alaric said. Hope wanted to argue, but one look from Rebekah made her agree, “Great, I’ll let my daughter know you’ll be joining her.”

“Great,” Hope said. She grabbed the sign up sheet, and on the way out she said, “I’m not singing for this. You can’t make me.”

“You can work behind the scenes if you want. I just want you to get involved,” he said. 

“Just say thank you and leave,” Rebekah said under her breath.

“Thank you Principal Saltzman,” Hope said, and she meant it. All her Mom had ever wanted for her was to go to school with friends her own age so she could grow and live a normal life. She couldn’t exactly do that if she was expelled.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow, Hope,” he said.

“That was lucky,” Rebekah said when they got home. Principal Saltzman had sent Hope home for the day, and she was currently sitting at the counter with her sign up sheet while Rebekah rummaged through the fridge for a blood bag, “If you got kicked out of that school, we’d have to go back to New Orleans and deal with all the vampires and werewolves who would see you dead. Do you have any idea how foolish you’ve been?”

“I said I was sorry Auntie Bex,” Hope said, “It’s the anger. Ever since I triggered my curse I haven’t been able to control it. Someone says the wrong thing, I get angry.”

“I know. Nik was the same way. But our father never liked a challenge. If Nik fought, he beat him down. I don’t want you to have to worry about that for feeling the way you do. But it doesn’t excuse it. You have to learn how to control your impulses.”

“I know, and I’ve tried. I’ve talked with Keelin about it, Mom told me a bunch of stuff, and I’ve done it all. The meditation, letting the pain in, keeping a journal. None of it works!”

“Well I think this attempt at making friends that Alaric has asked of you could be just what you need. Maybe what will help you is getting some company.”

“Yeah, but why does it have to be with Josie Saltzman? I hate that girl. She spread a rumor that I told everyone her sister was bipolar, and she turned everyone against me.”

“I know, I remember how sad you were about that. Did she ever apologize?”

“Yeah, ‘cause her Dad made her. She didn’t care, she just did what he wanted.”

“In my experience, girls like that act out because they themselves have got something to hide. Maybe you could ask her about it.”

“I can’t just do that, it’s weird.”

“Then get to know her. Try to be friends. And if that doesn’t work out, try to make other friends. Don’t you want to make any relationships with your peers?”

“Of course I do, I’m just not any good at it.”

“Well neither was your father. Or your Uncle Elijah for that matter. They could never let anyone in, until…” she trailed off.

“My mother?” Hope asked.

“Indeed.” Rebekah found her blood bag and asked, “What would you like for lunch, sweetheart? We could order in from the grill, unless you also want O positive.”

“You know I don’t. The grill is fine. Auntie Bex, do you mind if tonight I...you know? It helps me for a bit after I have a moment.”

“You can go at midnight, no time before. The neighbors could get suspicious,” she said.

“Thanks,” Hope said, “Wanna watch a movie?”

“No, I’m not rewarding you for getting sent home early. Finish your homework, then we can go to the grill.” Hope wanted to argue, but Rebekah could get intense if she argued too much, and she actually seemed in an okay mood for someone whose charge had almost been expelled. So she got her books out and got to work.

“Josette, I’m not having this argument with you again,” Alaric told his daughter at dinner that night, “Hope needs a way to get more involved at school, and the play was the best solution. It was that or expulsion, and while I was for it at first, I now think she deserves another chance.”

“You always give her a chance,” Josie said, “Why can’t you just let her go?”

“Because I promised her Mother I would look out for her,” he said.

“Well you promised my birth Mother that I would have a good life, and that can’t happen if I’m stuck sharing a stage with her.”

“Josie, I said she could work backstage, and that’s what she’s going to do. And you know, it wouldn’t kill you to try and be nice. You started this mess with that rumor.”

“Yeah, and I apologized for that. Hope, on the other hand has not apologized for anything she has done to almost get expelled, including ruining my science project, which cost me my straight As, stealing Lizzie’s favorite hair clip during gym, telling my boyfriend that I had an STD-”

“Josie, I get it. Hope isn’t your favorite person. But it doesn’t mean you can't make an effort. Plus, it would mean a lot to your Mom if you did.”

“Fine, I’ll try. Speaking of, where are Mom and Lizzie?”

“Shopping. Lizzie needed a dress and your Mom needed an outfit for the council meeting. They asked if you wanted to come with them.”

“I don’t like to shop. When will they be back? I need Lizzie’s help with something.”

“They should be on their way soon. You and I can hang though. We could watch a movie, eat some ice cream. This is my last night with you for a while.” Josie had her three weeks with her Mom coming up soon. She’d been out of town for work and was finally back, so she and her sister were gonna be spending a lot of time with her, which Josie was fine with because living with the principal could be really exhausting sometimes.

“That’s okay, Dad. I have to call Mary anyway, and then I have a lot of homework to do. Thanks for dinner though, it was really good.”

“I picked it up at the grill,” he said with a laugh.

“You still went out to get it, so that’s something,” she said. She put her plate in the sink, and her Dad put a hand on her shoulder and said,

“Work with Hope, Jo. You could really help her out.”

“I’ll try, Dad,” she said, even though she didn’t plan on trying at all.

“Thank you,” he said. Josie was going upstairs to call her friend when the door opened and Lizzie and their Mom entered.

“Josie, look what I found!” Lizzie said excitedly.

“What did you find?” Josie asked her. Lizzie pulled out what Josie thought to be the ugliest dress out of her bag and said,

“I saw this, and thought it would be the perfect thing for you to wear in the show. What do you think?” she was smiling so big that Josie thought she would explode.

“Uh, I mean...the show is set in 1899, not the Revolutionary War,” Josie said as she ran her hand over the frilly ruffles at the bottom. The only thing this dress had going for it was that there was no hoop skirt. Other than that it looked like a curtain.

“But, it’s totally old school reporter chic,” Lizzie said, “Which is exactly what you’re going for. And look, I even got these shoes to match.” She pulled the shoes out and Josie almost threw up. They were beige with giant roses at the bottom. Lizzie had been duped by a conniving saleswoman.

“Lizzie, this is just-” she started, but Lizzie cut her off by saying,

“You’ll wear it, right Jo?” Like hell she would!

“I think I should actually get the part first,” Josie said.

“Oh please, you’ll get it. You like the outfit, right?” Josie didn’t answer, and their Mom came in asking what was going on.

“I was showing Josie the outfit I bought for her,” Lizzie said, and the face their Mom made was one of a woman who clearly sided with Josie on how ugly it was, “You like it, right Mom?”

“Well, I did let you buy it,” Caroline said, “And made sure you didn’t take the tags off…”

“Neither of you like it, do you?” Lizzie asked.

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” Caroline said at the same time Josie said,

“No!” she covered her mouth when she realized she’d kinda yelled that, “I’m sorry Lizzie, but you got scammed. The outfit is awful. Plus, I bet the school will just give us costumes.”

“But I wanted yours to be special,” she said. Well now she felt bad. Caroline decided to intervene by saying,

“How about over the weekend, the three of us go shopping together. We can pick out something nice together, and we can...return this.” Josie held in a laugh at how much her Mother despised the outfit. Lizzie however, wasn’t laughing,

“Fine. Serves me right for trying to be nice!” she yelled before storming upstairs. The sound of the door slam made Josie flinch.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Caroline said, “She’s just having a day.”

“What happened?” Josie asked.

“It’s nothing,” Caroline said, “You know how she gets sometimes. Go make sure you’re packed for when I get you in the morning. I’ll check on your sister.”

“No Mom, let me,” Josie said. She left her Mom to say hi to Dad and went upstairs to the room that she shared with Lizzie. They shared with Dad but had their own with Mom. Lizzie was ripping up a magazine that was on her desk, “Hey, Liz. Calm down.”

“No no, it’s all fine,” Lizzie said, ripping a full page out, “I just need a, no I need…” she trailed off. Josie sighed and went over to her. She took Lizzie’s arm and said,

“Hey. Don’t rip up the magazine, it’s your favorite,” Josie said with a laugh. That got her to stop, but then she started to cry,

“Oh, this is my favorite!” she cried out. Josie gently took both of her hands and said,

“Hey come on, let’s sit down.” They sat on Josie’s bed, “I didn’t hate the outfit. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. Plus, Mom is going to take us both shopping. We can pick something out together, alright. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“I’m sorry Jo,” she said between tears, “I’m such a disaster.”

“You’re not a disaster,” Josie said, “You just get a little excited sometimes.”

“Josie, do you think I’m broken?” she asked.

“No, I don’t. And you shouldn’t think that either. We all go a little mad sometimes. What matters is that we have each other to get through it.”

“Yeah, we do,” Lizzie said, and her face began to brighten, “I love you, Jo.”

“I love you too,” Josie said. Once she calmed down, we laid in bed together until she fell asleep. She never called Mary, but she could get to that in the morning, and she’d been exaggerating a bit with a lot of homework. She could finish in the morning. However, as Lizzie slept, Josie lay awake. She pulled herself away from Lizzie and went downstairs to get some water. It was then when she’d realized she’d forgotten to pack to go to their Mom’s house.

“Crap,” she said to herself. She was going back to her room to pack her stuff when she heard a howl. Like a wolf howl, “What the…” she kind of asked herself. She went to her widow and peered outside, but she didn’t see anything. She heard the howl again, and while some of her was scared, she was a lot more interested. She opened her back door and went into the yard, staying on her side of the fence just in case. She stopped hearing things, and was about to go back in when there was a woosh of grey fur, and she was left face to face with a small wolf with grey fur and glowing amber eyes. She and the wolf held a gaze for a bit, and just when Josie thought the wolf was going to jump over the fence and maul her, it turned around and ran into the night. She smiled and said, “Cool.”


	2. Sick to Death of Josie-ness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Rehearsal! They're doing Newsies the Musical!

Hope didn’t mind working behind the scenes. There was a giant scaffolding they had to make for a set and it gave her a lot to do that wasn’t throwing girls out a window, so that was nice. The only problem was Josie Saltzman trying to be in charge of everything. She’d been cast as the female lead, which for some reason made her think she could tell the set crew what to do. Worst of all, she had her irritating sister around with her too, though Lizzie seemed to be the one more in charge. Not that Hope had anything against Lizzie, but where Josie went hard, Lizzie went harder.

“Hope!” Lizzie said to her, “Where are we with the paint samples?”

“MG went to get them,” Hope said. MG was Milton Greasely. He was Josie’s friend, which Hope didn’t understand because he was one of the nicest guys she knew. She couldn’t imagine what he saw in Josie, but that was his choice. Lizzie sighed and walked away, muttering about the incompetence of the people she was stuck working with.

“She’s kind of insane, huh?” Hope turned and saw a very tall boy looking down at her. She wasn’t sure they’d ever met.

“Yeah, pretty much. I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Oh, I’m Rafael, I’m new. I’m playing Jack in this.” He was the lead? The poor soul had to kiss Josie on stage. That really sucked for him.

“I’m Hope, I do sets,” she said, “It’s nice to meet you, Rafael.”

“And you. Do you know where I can find Josie Saltzman? We’re supposed to run lines.”

“She’s right over there,” Hope said, pointing to Josie.

“Thanks, see you around,” Rafael said. Once he left, Hope went back to the instructions in front of her. She was supposed to saw up some wood to make a base, but she wasn’t allowed to use any of the equipment without supervision. Ugh, she had to ask Lizzie.

“Lizzie, where’s the shop teacher? I need the power blade,” Hope told her. The annoyed sign Lizzie gave out was louder than the power blade itself.

“He’s out today, we just have to work in pairs,” Lizzie said, “MG! Help Hope with the power saw. The boy ran to her quickly and said,

“At your service milady Marshall.” Hope loved MG. She wished they could be better friends. Plus being along with him gave her restraint when she wanted to strangle Lizzie. He walked with her to the saw and said, “Okay. Says here we’ll need three ten by twelve boards. So, I’m gonna start the saw, you’re gonna hold it here, and then I’ll make the cuts. Sound good?”

“It sounds perfect,” Hope said. She positioned the bar where he told her to, and he made the cut. They finished with the board, and he turned the saw off, but when Hope helped move it back to its original place, she accidentally cut her finger on the blade, “Oh ow!”

“What happened?” MG asked, running towards her.

“It’s nothing, I just cut my finger. Dumb power blade,” she said, showing it to him. It was about to heal anyway, so that didn’t really matter. But for some reason, MG was being weird. He was backing away from her, and he looked terrified.

“MG, are you alright?” Hope asked.

“I just, um, I need…” MG sputtered out, but he couldn’t form a sentence. The bottom of the cut was disappearing. It was starting to heal. I quickly hid my finger.

“What’s going on?” Josie asked, with Lizzie not far behind. Great, the whole gang was here.

“Nothing, I just cut my hand,” Hope said.

“You’re bleeding?” Josie asked, a look of terror crossing her face. Hope nodded,

“Yeah, but I’m fine. See, it was barely a scratch.” She held up her finger, which had healed to the point of a raggedy scratch with a little bit of blood.

“Lizzie, can you take MG out of here?” Josie whispered to Lizzie, but Hope could hear perfectly with her vampire ears. Lizzie took MG away, leaving her with Josie.

“What?” Hope asked, noticing the glare Josie was giving her.

“Be more careful next time,” Josie said, “You could have started a whole mess.”

“My bad,” Hope said, “It was just a little cut, no need to make a big deal about it.” Josie rolled her eyes, “What? What did I do?”

“MG is my best friend,” Josie said, “And all you do is hurt him!”

“What the hell are you talking about? I like MG, I think he’s cool.”

“Yeah, I bet you thought he was so cool when you stole from Ryan Peterson and let him take the fall. He got suspended for two weeks!” Hope gulped. She had no clue Josie knew about that.

“Look, I panicked. If I’d gotten caught, I would have gotten expelled, and then I would have had to move back to New Orleans. His just happened to be the first backpack I saw, so I put the money there.”

“Wow, hearing the whole story just makes me hate you more.”

“This is why you’ve hated me all this time? This happened last year! And if anything, I’m the one who should hate you! I wanted to be your friend, and then you spread a false rumor that I told everyone that Lizzie was bipolar!”

“Everyone forgot about that in a day, including Lizzie! MG will have this on his record for the rest of his life, and you don’t even care.”

“Of course I care, Josie! I felt guilty about it for weeks, and I almost came forward until MG came to me in the hallway and told me he forgave me.”

“Oh please, he probably just felt bad for the poor little orphan girl. You know, you act all tough and sad and like the world is out to get you when all you are is dramatic. You just want people to feel sorry for the poor little girl who lost her parents!”

“Do you even hear yourself now? I didn’t ask for any of this to happen to me. If I got the chance to live in New Orleans with my parents, then I would take it! But I can’t, so I am just trying so hard to fit in here, but you have made it your mission ever since I got here to make me miserable, and I just wanna know why! Just tell me, why do you hate me so much?” Josie was silent. Hope didn’t even think it was possible for her to be that quiet.

“I need to check on MG,” she said. She pushed past Hope and left her alone. Rafael came in a few moments later and asked,

“What’s going on? I heard a lot of yelling.”

“It was nothing. How was rehearsal with Josie?”

“Awesome,” he said, and Hope was hoping he was being sarcastic, but as he kept going, she realized he wasn’t, “She was just so in sync with me. She made me feel so comfortable.”

“Really? Josie did that?” The same Josie who had her alienated by the entire student body on the first day? She had to laugh. Rafael nodded,

“Yeah, and she invited me to have lunch with her tomorrow. You should join us. I bet that’ll be fun. MG and Lizzie will be there.”

“I usually eat alone,” Hope said.

“Well think about it,” he said, “I’m heading home, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He gave her a clap on the back and left the room. Hope had finished all the work she was assigned for the day, so she decided to go home too. She texted Aunt Rebekah that she was on her way, grabbed her backpack, then left. On her way out, she saw MG with Lizzie and Josie. Josie had a hand on his shoulder and Lizzie was smiling at him, which usually never happened.

“Hey MG,” Hope said. The three of them turned to face her, “Are you okay?”

“All good Hope, sorry if I freaked you out,” he said, “Is your finger okay?” Her finger had completely healed by now.

“Yeah, it doesn’t even hurt anymore,” she said, “I was actually going home.”

“And yet, you’re still here,” Lizzie said. Lizzie might hate her more than Josie did. She probably believed Josie’s stupid rumor.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Hope said. She left the school, and when she got home, Aunt Rebekah was watching the news on the couch.

“Hello darling,” she said when she saw her, “How was rehearsal?”

“Boring,” Hope said, deciding not to tell her about cutting herself. Unluckily for her, there was blood stained on her sleeve. Blood Rebekah could smell.

“Are you bleeding?” she asked.

“Just a little bit,” Hope said, “I cut it on something at rehearsal. No one saw it heal, though.”

“Hope, you need to be more careful,” she said, “If someone sees the wrong thing then that could lead to a lot of scrutiny. And you’re not like any others. You’re the only creature of your kind, and if anything about you slips out, it would bring the attention of the wrong people.”

“Yeah, I know. And I understand, it won’t happen again.”

“Good. You know I’m not hard on you for no reason. I just want you to be careful.”

“I know, and I love you for it Aunt Bex, but I can take care of myself.”

“Hope, you need to know the extent of your abilities. You don’t have compulsion, but your blood can turn people into hybrids, and you’re descended from one of the most powerful witches in history. You have to be on high alert, alright?”

“I will be. I have homework, I’ll see you at dinner,” Hope said.

“Alright darling,” she said. Hope went upstairs, and Rebekah heard her door shut before going to her phone. She dialed Caroline’s number and waited for her to pick up.

“Rebekah?” Caroline asked, “What’s going on?”

“Does Hope know about your daughters?” she asked, wanting to be blunt.

“You mean that they’re witches? No, she doesn’t, at least she shouldn’t. And they don’t know what Hope is either, if that’s what you actually wanted to ask about.”

“It was,” Rebekah admitted, “She cut herself at her play practice today. She said they didn’t see anything, but I worry.”

“I firmly believe that if they had, they would have told me. Don’t worry about it, the girls have done a very good job remaining discrete.”

“I know. I just worry. Hayley wanted her to have a normal life. She won’t get that if people discover who she is.”

“They won’t. It’s going to be okay.”

“I hope. Have a good night Caroline.”

“You too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first Hope/Josie interaction! Lots more to come...next chapter will see a lot more of just the two of them :)


	3. Moments in the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie get to talking and make an unexpected connection...

Both women hung up the phone, and while Rebekah got a blood bag out for herself and ordered a pizza for Hope, Caroline got to work making pasta for her and the girls. She waited a long time and the pasta was all cold by the time Lizzie and Josie came home. Caroline checked the time. It was nearing eight, the girls said they’d be home at six.

“Hey Mom,” Josie said.

“Don’t you hey Mom me,” Caroline said, “Where have you girls been? Practice ended at five thirty and you said you’d be home at six.”

“Sorry, we got dinner with MG,” Lizzie said.

“You ate already? I slaved over this pasta,” Caroline said.

“Mom, you boiled water and put noodles in, I wouldn’t call that slaving,” Lizzie said, “Anyway, we have news. Right, Jo?”

“You said we didn’t have to tell her,” Josie said.

“Okay, well now I need to know,” Caroline said, “What happened, Josie?”

“MG knows that we’re witches,” Josie admitted. Caroline’s eyes widened, 

“What?!” she exclaimed.

“It’s not like he’s going to tell,” Lizzie said, and whispered, “He’s a vampire.”

“I know what he is, Elizabeth!” Caroline said. Alaric kept her posted about all the supernatural students that went to Mystic Falls High, “That still doesn’t explain how he knows about you.”

“During play practice, Hope Marshall got cut on a saw while building the set, and MG almost couldn’t control himself, so Josie siphoned him and did a spell to calm him down,” Lizzie said.

“Josette, you know the rules. There’s no magic at school!” Caroline scolded.

“He was freaking out! I helped him,” Josie said, “And it’s like Lizzie said, she isn’t going to tell anybody. He was really understanding.”

“I don’t care how understanding he is. Anyone could have seen you doing that spell. If you get caught, we’ll have to leave Mystic Falls. Is that what you want?”

“No, it’s not what I want. But he wanted to feed on her, Mom. I obviously couldn’t let that happen so I did a little spell on him. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a big deal when you deliberately disregard the rules that I have for your protection. You can’t just go around using spells on your friends!”

“Okay, I’m sorry! It won’t happen again.”

“Lizzie, did you use magic too?”

“No, only Josie did. But he knows both of us are witches. We left out all the Gemini Coven stuff, though. We thought that was too complicated.”

“Good, you did something right,” Caroline said. She ran a hand through her hair and said, “I need to call your Dad and tell him about this. Both of you stay right here.” She went upstairs to get her phone and Josie turned to glare at her sister.

“What the hell, Lizzie? You said we didn’t have to tell her!”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not any good at keeping a secret, especially from Mom. If she found out we lied to her, that would have gone a lot worse.”

“Whatever, I need some air.” 

“Where are you going?”

“Away from here!” Josie snapped at her, not really caring if she was upsetting her. She grabbed her “special” keys from the front counter and left the house. She took her walk from in front of her house to the woods outside her neighborhood. It was always quiet in there, and it helped her clear her head. She was so mad at Lizzie. It wasn’t that hard to lie, she had to know that. And now their Dad needed to know, and he was not going to be happy. God, she was so angry! She clutched her keys. She could hear the magic passing from them to her. Enough built up, and she yelled, “Ignalusa!” The fire came out, and she caterwauled it forward. She’d only meant to hit a tree, but the giant yelp she heard from behind one showed that that was not the case, “Crap.” Josie ran to where the fire had been and saw a wolf lying on the ground. Had she killed it? She was about to just run until the hair on the wolf started to recede. Josie inched forward, and watched as all the fur went away, revealing human skin.

“Oh my God,” she said. She’d gone from looking at a wolf to looking at very familiar teenage girl. This could not be happening, it made no sense! She was just some random girl! How could she be a werewolf? And how could she turn when it wasn’t the full moon? Josie winced at the burn that was on her shoulder, but her fear went away as she watched it slowly heal. The girl grunted a little before pulling herself to her feet. She turned to Josie and screamed.

“Josie? What the hell?!” she exclaimed.

“Hope, I-” Josie stuttered out, but she couldn’t say more than that. Hope was completely naked, and Josie was trying so hard to keep her eyes off her.

“Do you mind?” Hope asked, using her arms to cover herself.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Here, take my hoodie,” Josie said, pulling it off. That left her in only a tank top, but Hope needed it more. The hoodie was Josie’s Dad’s, so it was huge on her.

“Thank you,” Hope said. The two girls were silent for a bit, so Hope asked, “So, you’re a witch.”

“And you’re a werewolf,” Josie said, “A crescent one. The ones who can change whenever they want to.” She’d seen the birthmark on her shoulder. Her Dad had told them stories about a Crescent wolf he used to know, “You’re Hayley Marshall’s daughter, aren’t you? The Crescent Alpha.” Hope was silent, “She knew my parents. They used to tell me stories about how brave she was. I can’t believe I never put it together.” Hope pushed some hair out of her face and said,

“I need to get home. My Aunt is waiting for me.”

“Oh yeah, I need to get home too. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Josie said. She raised her keys up in her hand when she waved goodbye, which is when Hope noticed the glow.

“What is that?” she asked. Josie saw what she meant and quickly put the keys away.

“It’s nothing,” she said. Hope raised an eyebrow at her, and she said, “I’m a special kind of witch. I don’t have my own magic, so I need to siphon it from other people. My mom has a friend named Bonnie who put some magic in these keys, so Lizzie and I can use magic when we need a release.”

“Your sister is a witch too? Makes sense.”

“Hey, not funny!” Josie said, even though it kind of was. Hope laughed and said, 

“No no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you’re twins with siphon powers. That means you’re from the Gemini Coven. My aunt Fr-” Hope stopped and said, “I mean, a friend of my aunt told me all about them growing up. That must be cool.”

“Eh, I kinda wish I had my own magic sometimes, you know?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool to do spells.” Josie frowned at her, and Hope quickly backtracked by saying, “I mean, I’m just a wolf, so I wouldn’t know, but my Mom was friends with witches.”

“Oh, cool,” Josie said, “So since you’re a wolf, then that means you…”

“Yeah, it does. But I’d rather not talk about it. It was an accident, and that’s all that matters to me.” Josie nodded,

“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. Grant it, I haven’t done what you have, but I haven’t always been responsible with my magic,” she said.

“It’s hard,” Hope said, “Being different and then trying to be normal.”

“Tell me about it,” Josie said, “Your secret is safe with me, okay?”

“And yours with me. I gotta get home. I’m not even supposed to be out here, my Aunt will kill me if she notices I’m gone.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Josie said, “Goodnight, Hope.”

“Goodnight, Josie.” The two of them parted ways, and Josie went home to find both her Mom and Dad in the living room, looking stressed.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” Josie asked.

“Oh thank God,” Alaric said, “We were so worried.”

“I told Lizzie I was going on a walk,” Josie said.

“For thirty minutes?” Caroline asked, “It’s late, you can’t just be out there by yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” Josie said, “I lost track of time.”

“And where’s your hoodie, you must have been freezing,” Caroline said, getting up to put her cardigan around Josie. 

“I took it off before I left,” Josie lied. She’d get it from Hope later. Caroline told her to sit down and both parents sat next to her, “Is this an intervention?”

“Of course not,” Alaric said, “We just want to talk about what happened at school.”

“I told Mom it won’t happen again. Can I just go to bed, I’m tired.”

“What were you doing with these? You’re not allowed to take these without permission,” Caroline said, noticing the keys.

“I needed a release, and I only did one spell. No one saw.”

“You’re not allowed to do spells without your sister, Josette!” Josie felt like she’d been getting “Josette’d” a lot lately. And she was supposed to be the good one.

“Well that’s a stupid rule! We’re not going to get better if you continue to limit how much magic we use. It’s not fair to either of us!”

“You and your sister are both fine witches, you train with Bonnie every week,” Alaric said.

“Yeah, one day a week. That’s nothing compared to how other witches train.”

“Well other witches train in case they need to protect themselves. You don’t need to worry about that. All you need to focus on is what you already know.”

“What if that isn’t enough? We need to know more spells, and we need to practice them more. It makes no sense for you to be upset with me over this.”

“Well we are. You’re grounded. No more magic until we say so,” Alaric said.

“That’s so not fair! Mom, tell him.”

“Oh no, I’m agreeing with him,” she said, “You’ve proved enough today that we shouldn’t be trusting you. You used magic on MG, you took the keys without asking. Until we can trust that you’re using magic responsibly, those keys and sessions with Bonnie are off limits.”

“What about Lizzie? Why isn’t she in trouble?”

“Well was it her idea to use magic on MG or take the keys without permission? Because if so, we can definitely call her down,” Alaric said. Josie couldn’t say anything because it had all been her idea.

“You can go to bed now, honey,” Caroline said.

“Whatever,” Josie said. She went upstairs and went to her room for some quiet only to see Lizzie sitting on her bed. They had separate rooms, yet she still couldn’t get quiet.

“What happened with Mom and Dad?” Lizzie asked.

“Nothing,” Josie said, “I’m grounded, by the way. Thanks for that.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get in trouble. Do you want me to talk to Mom and Dad? I could take some of the responsibility.”

“It’s fine, they wouldn’t believe you anyway,” Josie said, “Can you go? I’m kind of tired and I want to go to bed.”

“Okay. I can stay in here with you if you want.”

“It’s fine,” Josie said, “I just really need to sleep.” She was still reeling over what happened with Hope, and that mixed with her anger at her parents wasn’t making her very agreeable.

“Alright, I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Jo.”

“Goodnight,” Josie said, “Wait, Lizzie?” Lizzie stopped and asked,

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about yelling at you earlier, I was out of line.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, “We’re good now though, right?”

“Yeah, we’re good. Goodnight Lizzie.” Lizzie smiled at her and left, and Josie changed into her pajamas before going to bed. Across town, Hope was sneaking into her house, still in the hoodie, and trying hard not to make even the tiniest sound. Aunt Rebekah heard everything. She thought she was in the clear once she made it upstairs, but the minute she turned her room light on, she screamed when she saw her Aunt on her bed.

“It’s good to see you too, sweetheart,” she said.

“What are you doing in my room?” Hope asked in annoyance.

“Waiting for you to come back and explain to me why you went out tonight even though you know you have to ask me before you do.”

“I’m sorry, I just had a bad day, and I needed the release.”

“And I would have let you, had you asked. You don’t need to sneak around me, sweetheart. And you definitely shouldn’t be going out this early. People are still out, someone could have seen you.” Hope looked at her feet, “No one saw you, right?”

“No of course not,” Hope said, making sure to remain calm. If Aunt Rebekah heard her heart beating too fast she’d know she was lying.

“Where did you get that hoodie?” Rebekah asked.

“I found it on the ground,” Hope lied.

“That’s disgusting! Take it off then throw it away. Then take a shower, it smells like something is burning,” she said.

“Yeah sure,” Hope said. 

“And you know, I’m serious about this Hope, you need to learn to be more careful. You’ve got no clue about what can happen to supernaturals who get figured out in human towns. Especially someone like you that no one has ever heard of before. Never again, okay?” 

“Never again,” Hope said.

“Good. You know I don’t like doing this, but I’m taking your art supplies for a week.” Hope held in a laugh. She always found it kind of funny when Aunt Rebekah “disciplined” her. 

“Okay Auntie Bex, I deserve that,” Hope said. 

“You know I still love you, right?”

“Yes, you will always love me,” Hope said. Rebekah gave her a kiss on the temple and said,

“Very true. Now go take your shower, I have to take you in early tomorrow.” Rebekah left, and once Hope was alone and took the hoodie off, she noticed that there were still some remains of the burn on her shoulder. It was healing, but it was slow. That must have been a really powerful spell. Hope never did fire spells that often, Aunt Freya didn’t want her to lose control. She’d have to figure out what this one was. Hope got in the shower, but the water made it sting more. She showered as quickly as she could, and when she got out, she changed into pajamas and folded Josie’s hoodie up before putting it in her backpack. She’d give it to her in the morning. They didn’t have rehearsal tomorrow, so she was wondering when she’d see Josie, which was when she remembered Rafael’s lunch invitation. Maybe she could eat lunch with them, and give Josie her hoodie then. After their conversation tonight, she’d have to be happy to see her, right?

Hope was proven wrong at lunch the next day. Rafael waved her over, but when she got there, Lizzie started laughing and asked,

“What are you doing here, Marshall?”

“I just thought, I mean, Raf said,” Hope tried to explain, but Josie wouldn’t even make eye contact with her, and even Raf looked uncomfortable, “Never mind.” Hope left them and went to her usual table, alone. She’d just drop the hoodie off at the office later. She looked over at Josie, who made eye contact with her for a second before turning away. So much for making new friends. But, if Josie kept her secret and Hope kept hers, she guessed there was nothing else that needed to happen between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouch Josie, but now Hope and Josie know (almost) about each other's powers! Tune in to see where that takes them...  
> (Also, it's May 2nd so Happy Birthday Hope!)


	4. Take a Chance on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie run lines together during practice

At rehearsal a few days later, Josie and Rafael finished running a scene, and then Rafael said he had to leave early because of a problem at home.

“Can you find someone to run the next scene with you? I really gotta go,” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I don’t want to keep you from an emergency.”

“Thanks Jo, I’ll see you guys later,” he said, waving goodbye to Hope, who was helping MG hammer two pieces of wood together. Well, MG held it steady while Hope did all the hammering. Josie wanted to learn the rest of this scene, so she said,

“MG, can you help me run lines?”

“I can’t, I gotta go to the shop class and get some more wood soon.”

“Can’t Hope go?”

“The last time I talked to Mr. Williams, I called him a little bald man who looked like a bowling pin, so I really shouldn’t be bothering him,” Hope said. 

“You two can run the lines,” MG said, “And I’ll be right back.” Literally everyone else in the show was with the choreographer, so that did leave just her.

“Let’s just get this done,” Josie said, giving her the script, “At the top of 96. I’ll start, then you come in.” Hope nodded. Josie started by reading, “That was some speech you made.” 

“How’d you get here?” Hope asked. She could feel Josie rolling her eyes over the lack of effort she was putting into this, but it wasn’t like it was her role.

“Specs showed me.”  _ Specs, what a stupid name _ .

“Did he say you could look through my stuff?”

“You’re not reading it right,” Josie said. Hope frowned. That wasn’t in the script. She looked up and saw Josie glaring at her and saying, “The line. You’re reading it too formally. Read it as it’s written, it isn’t a typo.” Hope decided to keep it to herself that she actually had thought it was a typo and said,

“I knew that. He say you could go through my stuff?” Josie rolled her eyes,

“You’re not even trying.”

“Well it’s not my role.”

“You could put some effort in it, I’m trying to get better.”

“How come your lines aren’t like this?”

“Your character is an orphan who lives on the street. My character is an educated reporter. You should also be talking with a New York accent.”

“I’m not doing that.”

“Well can you at least put in a bit more effort? You sound like a robot. And this is really important to me, I want it to go well.”

“Fine, whatever, I’ll do it again.” Hope cleared her throat and said, “He say you could go through my stuff?” She attempted the accent, and while she expected Josie to laugh, she just smiled.

“I saw them rolled up, sticking out of there. I didn’t know what they were. These drawings? These are drawings of the Refuge, aren’t they?”  _ The hell was a Refuge? _ , “Is this really what it’s like in there? Three boys to a bed, rats everywhere, and vermin?” Hope had to give it to her, Josie was a good actress. She sounded genuinely concerned about boys in a Refuge.

“A little different from where you were raised?”

“Snyder told my father you were arrested for stealing food and clothing. This is why, isn’t it? You stole to feed those boys.” Josie was looking at her with a deep understanding in her eyes, as if Hope actually was the person in the script. It was making her feel a little flustered, so she turned away, which, funnily enough, was in the script, “I don’t understand. If you were willing to go to jail for those boys, how could you turn your back on them now?” Hope actually felt chastised, Josie was good!

“I don’t think you’re anyone to talk about turning on folks.”

“I never turned on you or anyone else!”  _ Except she did, she’d turned on Hope. She promised her that she was going to be nice. _

“No. You just double crossed us to your father. Your father!” Hope ended up yelling, letting out her pent up anger towards Josie.

“Hope that was amazing, you’re really getting into this,” Josie said. Hope’s face reddened a bit at that, and she was glad Josie couldn’t see, “You should probably turn back around now. We have to be facing each other for the rest.”

“Oh, sorry,” Hope said, turning back to look at her, “So, your line?”

“Oh yes. My father has eyes on every corner of the city. He doesn’t need anyone spying for him. And I never lied. I didn’t tell you everything…”  _ Damn right she didn’t! Hope literally just found out that she was a siphoner witch! Not that she could get mad about that… _

“If you weren’t a girl, you’d be trying to talk with a fist in your mouth.”

“I said that I worked for the  _ Sun _ , and I did. I told you my professional name was Plumber, and it is. You never asked my real one.”

“I wouldn’t think I had to unless I knew I was dealing with a backstabber!” She  _ was _ such a backstabber! They’d told each other their deepest darkest secrets a few days ago and then she still wouldn’t let her sit with them at lunch, even thought she’d promised Aunt Rebekah that she’d make Hope feel at home at Mystic Falls High when they’d moved here. If anything, she did the opposite.

“And if I was a boy, you’d be looking at me through one swollen eye!” Josie said, even raising her hand up and making a fist. Hope could feel her endorphins flowing. If it went any farther, she may have even wolfed out. She leaned in towards Josie and said,

“Don’t let that stop ya! Give it your best shot!” As she yelled, her eyes glowed yellow, and Josie, whose hand had moved from her script to Hope’s shoulder, was taking the magic. The two girls quickly stepped back from each other. Hope took a deep breath and calmed herself. Her eyes went back to normal, and she asked, “Should we keep going?”

“Well, what happens next in the script is that the two characters kiss,” Josie said, “But Raf and I haven’t gotten that far yet, so we can stop here.” 

“Oh. Cool,”  _ Why did that make her feel disappointed? _ “And I’m sorry about the whole eyes thing,” Hope said, pointing to them.

“And I’m sorry about siphoning. That can hurt sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” she said. Truth was, she hadn’t even felt it.

“Well, that was all we needed to do, plus MG should be back soon, and I have to go work with the choreographer,” Josie said.

“Yeah, I hear him coming now. Wolf ears,” Hope said.

“Right.” Josie turned to go join the others, and Hope said,

“Wait!” Josie turned around. Hope went to her backpack and pulled the hoodie out, “I washed this. I meant to give it back to you the next day, but I forgot, so here.”

“Thanks. My Dad will be wondering where this is,” Josie said. Neither of them saw Lizzie come in and see Josie take the hoodie from Hope, “I’ll see you around.” Josie put the hoodie in her backpack and went to join the others with the choreographer.

“What were you just giving my sister?” Lizzie asked, startling Hope.

“Geez, you scared me!” Hope exclaimed. She closed the extra script and handed it to Lizzie, “And it was nothing. Can you give this to her, I don’t need it.”

“I’m on to you Hope Marshall,” Lizzie said.  _ Sure she was. _ Lizzie left right as MG came back.

“I come bearing wood,” he said, but he was struggling to keep the cart stable. Hope helped him by grabbing the other side, and she said,

“Thank you, MG. Should we start with the railings now?”

“Indeed. So, how did running lines with Josie go?”

“It went fine. Nothing much happened, though. I wasn’t that into it so we zoomed through,” she said. It was a lie, but she didn’t feel like telling the truth. MG nodded and said,

“Cool. What were you and Lizzie talking about?”

“I was just giving her the extra script.”

“Oh. Did she mention me?”  _ Why did he care if she mentioned him? _

“No, she didn’t. It was a short conversation. Why do you care?”

“It’s nothing. Do you have the sketch so we can know how much to cut?”

“Yeah, it says six bars, and eight by nine feet,” Hope said, “Where is Mr. Williams? Isn’t he supposed to be helping us with this?”

“Nah, he trusts us.” Hope raised an eyebrow at him, “Well, he trusts me.”

“That sounds right. I’m going to get my gloves on.” Because of the incident with the saw, anyone working with the wood needed gloves. Though Hope honestly didn’t know why that wasn’t always a rule. That saw wasn’t playing around! She was opening the drawer to get some out when she saw Josie. She was doing a tap dance flawlessly. Her shoes tapped against the ground in a tune that was almost mesmerizing. Hope couldn’t look away. She laughed as one of the boys around her twirled her around. She was lifted onto the prop table then carried back down, and she started to dance again, in perfect rhythm to the beat of the music. When did she have the time to learn all of this?!

“Hope?” she heard MG ask, “You ready to get to work?”

“Yeah, sorry. I got distracted.” She grabbed her gloves and went to join MG, her thoughts never straying from Josie Saltzman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now Lizzie is suspicious...things are about to take an interesting turn. For anyone who would like a bit on context on the scene Hope and Josie practiced, a filmed performance of Newsies is on Disney Plus! The scene starts at the one hour and forty minute mark :)


	5. Do Me a Favor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie's got some questions...and an idea

The next day, Josie got home to find Lizzie sitting on the couch, as if she was waiting for her. She put her stuff on the couch and asked,

“How were lessons with Aunt Bonnie?”

“Fine, boring without you,” Lizzie said, “How was rehearsal with Raf?”

“It was fine. It’s a good thing his character doesn’t dance that much because he just...can’t.” She sat next to Lizzie and asked, “Were you waiting up on me?”

“Indeed. Why did Hope have Dad’s Duke hoodie?”

“Excuse me?”

“Dad’s hoodie that you left the house late at night with, then come back not wearing,” Lizzie said, “How did Hope have it?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Josie said.

“Jo, you can’t lie to me,” Lizzie said, “C’mon, just tell me. Did you see her that night and decide to give her a hoodie? Please fill in the blanks because I certainly can’t.”

“Like I said, no clue. I have homework to do. Call me when Mom comes home with dinner.” Josie took her stuff from the couch and went to the staircase. Lizzie stopped her by saying,

“I think you  _ did _ see her. And considering you’re trying to dodge my questions, and that you took the keys with you, my guess is something happened with magic. Mom and Dad wouldn’t have punished you if you hadn’t used it without permission.”

“Yeah, I used it on MG, which everyone knows.”

“Except you still took those keys  _ after _ we told them about MG. Plus, if you were in trouble for what happened with MG, I’d be in trouble too. There was something that you did when you went out that night. What happened with Hope?”

“Why do you think Hope has anything to do with this?”

“Because I think that you saw...nevermind.” That got Josie’s attention.

“Saw what?” Josie asked.

“Come on, you have to know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, you’d be confused. But I can tell that you aren’t confused at all. What do you know?”

“I think we both might know the same thing,” Josie said, “I’m gonna count to three, and we’re both going to say it at the same time. Okay?”

“Okay,” Lizzie said.

“One, two, three,” Josie said, and at the same time she went, “Hope is a werewolf!” Lizzie said,

“Hope is a witch!” The two sisters went silent after that.

“What did you say?” Josie asked.

“That Hope is a witch. What did you say?”

“That Hope is a werewolf. I saw her transform from wolf to human. That’s why I gave her Dad’s hoodie, she needed something to wear. Why do you think that she’s a witch?”

“I saw her doing a spell at school,” Lizzie said, “Remember a few months ago when Ms. Morrison called you out for texting in class, and then all of a sudden she was throwing up? I saw Hope do the chant. It was a witch spell.”

“She did that for me?” Josie asked. Lizzie gave her a look that said ‘focus’, so Josie continued with, “You know, Hope did know a lot about the Gemini Coven for someone who’s a werewolf.”

“Why would Hope be asking about the Gemini Coven?”

“Because I kind of told her that I was a siphoner witch.” Lizzie’s eyes widened, 

“You did what?!”

“I just found out that she was a werewolf, I didn’t think she’d go around telling people! Plus I only told her I was a siphoner, she filled in everything else.”

“Except she wouldn’t even think about the whole Gemini Coven thing unless she knew that I was a witch too,” Lizzie said. Josie looked away from her, “Wow, thanks for that.”

“Look, I’m sorry. But right now, we can’t worry about trivial things. We need to figure out how Hope can be a werewolf and a witch. Aunt Bonnie said that’s impossible!”  
“And yet, here we are. You’re right. What should we do? Should we tell Mom and Dad?”

“We can’t. They’ll freak if I tell them that someone knows. Plus, Dad always tells Mom whenever a supernatural creature comes to the school. There’s a chance she already knows.”

“Why lie about it then? She told us about MG,” Lizzie said.

“She told us about MG because we caught him feeding. There are probably a ton of supernatural kids that we don’t know about,” Josie said, “And I’ve already had her confirm that her Mom is Hayley Marshall, the werewolf alpha Mom told us about. We just gotta find out who her Dad is.”

“And I have an idea on that,” Lizzie said, “You and Hope might hate each other, but you have been getting a little close. You need to get closer. Let her in, get to know things about her. Then, she’ll invite you to her house, and you can meet her family, and once you meet her family-”

“I figure out who her Dad is. There are two problems with your plan. One, Hope and I despise each other. Even if we do get closer, there’s no way she’d let me go to her house. Plus, all of this requires me to have to spend time with her, which I just don’t want to do.”

“Well too bad. We’re both curious, and like, I would do it, except she and I didn’t just bond reading lines from a stupid play.”

“Hey! I like this play,” Josie said, and Lizzie rolled her eyes, “Besides, you haven’t even heard the second problem yet.”

“Which is?”

“I’m grounded. How am I supposed to go to Hope’s house?”

“God damn, they were serious about that?” Josie nodded. Lizzie sighed and said, “Fine, I’ll cover for you. See, both problems solved.”

“You barely solved problem 1,” Josie said.

“Whatever, this is happening. Call her, tell her you want to talk after practice.”

“I don’t have my phone or her number. We aren’t friends, Lizzie.”

“Then get it tomorrow. You can use my phone,” LIzzie said.

“Then what?”

“Then, you ask her if you can hang out away from school to talk about being supernatural. Then you gain enough of her trust for her to tell you what she is, and when we find out…”

“We can drive her out, for good. There’s never been such a thing as a witch-werewolf hybrid. If she’s the only one of her kind, the knowledge of her existence would have to force her to leave.”

“Exactly! I knew we’d be on the same page here,” Lizzie said. The door opened and Caroline came in to see Lizzie spinning Josie around while giving her a hug.

“This is nice to see,” she said, “What did I miss?”

“Oh, Josie got an A on her geometry test,” Lizzie lied. It was honestly shocking to Josie how good of a liar Lizzie was. Luckily for them, she  _ was _ pulling an A in geometry.

“Well that’s great sweetie,” Caroline said, “How has the play been going?”

“Awesome,” Josie said, “It’s gonna be awesome.”

“Great, I can’t wait to see it. What do you girls want to do for dinner?”

“Can we go to the grill?” Lizzie asked, “I need french fries, and there is no food here except blood.” Josie nodded in agreement.

“There is plenty of food here!” Caroline said, going to the fridge. The top half was just blood, and the bottom half that was usually food her her daughters was emptier than usual, “Okay, grill it is. Remind me to go shopping while you guys are at school tomorrow.”

“Yes!” Lizzie said. She went to get her jacket, and Josie asked,

“Mom, can I come too?”

“You know the rules, Jo. We’ll bring you back something,” Caroline said. Josie sighed and flopped back on the couch. This sucked. Lizzie came back, and she was smiling.

“What are you so happy about?” Josie asked.

“Mom and I are going to be gone for an hour at the least. This is the perfect opportunity to go and see Hope.” Josie shook her head,

“Absolutely not. I don’t even know where she lives.”

“Luckily for you, while I was ‘getting my jacket’, I also logged into Dad’s database with the school records and got you an address. It’s a fifteen minute walk from here.”

“I thought the plan was for me to get her number then eventually get asked to come over.”

“I’m changing it up. By doing this, we’re already two steps ahead. Come on, don’t you want her gone?”  _ Well, that was what they wanted, right? _

“How did you get in there?” Josie asked.

“Oh I’ve been using it for years to find boys to ask me to homecoming. The password has been bio Mom’s birthday for years.”

“That’s so sad,” Josie said.

“Yeah yeah, we’ll set him up later. Just go, talk to her, make a friendship. I’ll keep Mom occupied until eight, then we’ll come back.”

“Fine. But if I get caught, I’m taking you down with me.”

“You’re the best, Jo! I’m nothing without you,” Lizzie said, giving her a hug.

“Lizzie, let’s go! Josie, what do you want?”

“Uh, get me a grilled cheese and french fries!” Josie called to her.

“Tell me how it goes,” Lizzie said, handing her the sheet of paper with the address. Lizzie and Caroline left, and Josie went to the computer in the den and typed the address in. She heard the car leave, and once she was certain they were gone, she deleted Hope’s address from the search bar, grabbed her jacket from the couch, and was on her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for no Hosie moments in this chapter, but there are a lot coming up soon...


	6. Opening Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie makes it to Hope's house

Josie approached the address that was written on her piece of paper. It was a nice house with a white fence in the front, a convertible was parked in a garage that was opening, and it was slowly backing out. Crap, Hope was leaving. However as the car left, Josie saw Hope through her window. Only one person was in the car. She was wearing a hood, and Josie could see wisps of blonde hair coming out. Josie guessed that she was Hope’s aunt. Once she was gone, Josie opened the fence and went to the door. She got nervous, and contemplated leaving, but then the plan would go out the window. Plus, going to her house was a step ahead of where they needed to be in the plan, so that was good. Josie calmed her nerves and knocked on the door. She waited outside for a while, and was about to knock again when the door opened and she saw Hope. She looked different than she did during school. She was wearing a red sweater and a skirt, and instead of those heeled boots she insisted on wearing every day, she was wearing bright fuzzy socks, and her hair which she usually wore down was pulled into a high ponytail.

“Josie?” she asked, “What are you doing here?” Josie put her hand in her bag and pulled out the script she’d put in there to make conversation.

“I needed someone to run lines with and Raf was busy. Could we do it together?”

“Uh yeah, I guess. Um, come in.” Hope opened the door open and Josie stepped inside. She had a nice house, but there weren’t many decorations. There were no pictures, no blankets on the couch, the walls were all white, there was a lock on the fridge, and the only evidence that someone actually lived here, was Hope’s backpack on the couch.

“Wow, your house is very-” Josie started, but Hope cut her off by saying,   


“Unwelcoming?”

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

“You were thinking it,” Hope said, “Come on, we can read in my room.” What Josie didn’t know was that Hope was very excited. Josie Saltzman was in her house! She wanted to be friends, this was perfect! She wondered what had convinced her to come over, though. As far as she knew, Josie hated her, and Hope acted like she hated her in person, so why would she come over? It made no sense. Hope got to her room and opened the door. She winced at how big of a mess it was. Her bed wasn’t made, clothes thrown all around, it was awful. It made her glad Aunt Bex still had her art stuff since the area where they used to be was at least a little clean, “I’m so sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting anybody. You can just put your stuff on the bed.”

“Thanks,” Josie said. She sat on Hope’s bed, and on the nightstand she noticed the first picture she’d seen in the house. It was Hope and her Mom. Hope was a lot younger, with prominent freckles and deep red hair. She had her arms wrapped around her mother, and they were smiling so big.

“Should we start?” Hope asked. She noticed Josie looking at the picture and said, “That’s my Mom, Hayley. She died two years ago.”

“Yeah I know. My Mom and Dad told me. They said she was a great woman.”

“Thanks Josie. After it happened, my aunt and I moved here.”

“Why your Aunt? What about your Dad?” Hope looked down, “Oh I’m sorry, is he-”

“He’s dead,” Hope finished for her, “He’s been dead for a long time. And even before he died, he was never that involved. He was a werewolf like my Mom.” She didn’t want to lie to Josie, but she had to. And besides, her Dad  _ had _ been a werewolf. He’d just also been half vampire.

“I’m sorry to hear that. If it helps, I’ve never met my birth Mom. I was a surrogate pregnancy.” That was a surprise to Hope. She’d always thought that Lizzie and her Mom looked so much alike, plus Aunt Rebekah had never told her.

“I’m sorry. Was she at least there when you were born?” 

“The story of my birth is a strange one,” Josie admitted. Hope was intrigued. She smiled and said,

“I’ve got time.” Josie blushed,

“I just came to read lines.”

“We’ve read the lines before, and we always can later. Come on, tell me.” Josie checked the clock and said, “I need to leave by eight.”

“Forty minutes is plenty of time. C’mon. You tell me about you, I tell you about me.” While Hope just genuinely wanted to know more about Josie, Josie saw this as an opportunity to further her plan, so she said,

“Alright. So you know how my family is from the Gemini Coven, right?” Hope nodded, and Josie launched into the story. Her mother’s death, her grandfather putting her and her sister into Caroline’s body, their siphoning powers almost killing her. 

“How did your powers kill her?” Hope asked, and Josie froze.  _ Crap, she’d said too much _ . 

“I mean, not kill her, but sometimes when you’re pregnant with a supernatural, and you’re not a supernatural, it can be a lot,” Josie lied.

“Ah, I see.” Josie nodded and said, “My Mom and Dad never got married, but they’re really good friends. Though sometimes I worry that neither of them will ever find anybody. I know that my Mom was married, I was the flower girl at her wedding. But he died, so I never got much time with him. There was another guy who was into her  _ way _ back when, but I’ve never met him, and they were never together. And as for my Dad, I sometimes think he’ll never move on from my birth Mom.”

“They’ll be okay, Josie. Have you ever talked with them about this?”

“No, the only person I’ve talked about this to is you, right now. And I don’t even know why.”

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anybody. I mean, who would I tell? You know how I am at school.” If that was meant to be a dig at her, Josie felt it.

“Well enough about me,” Josie said, breaking the silence, “I’d like to know about you. Who are you, Hope Marshall?”

“I am not much. My Mom was a Crescent Wolf, she had a one off with my Dad, another wolf, and then I came into the world. There’s nothing more to it than that.”

“So you’re just a werewolf?” Hope nodded, “How does that work? My Dad likes the supernatural, so he’s told me a bit about it, but not a lot. I know how a werewolf curse is triggered, and you told me that it was an accident...”

“It was. I don’t want you to worry, I’m not a serial killer or anything. It was a genuine accident that I hadn’t meant to cause.” 

“I believe you” Josie said, and since it was Josie, Hope might have thought she didn’t, but she could see her expression. She was being sincere.

“It was an accident. If I’d known he’d been up there…” she trailed off, “I felt awful about it. There were days before the first full moon where I considered ending things before it happened.”

“Oh my God, Hope!” Josie exclaimed, and Hope was taken aback by the care in her voice. She continued the story and ease Josie’s concern with,

“Don’t worry, I never feel that way anymore. I got help. And I was taught how to embrace all the best parts of being a wolf, and now, I love it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always going to feel guilty about what I did. But being a wolf, it can be either the best or worst feeling in the world. You must feel that, being a witch.”

“Maybe if I was an actual witch,” Josie said, “Sometimes not having my own powers makes me feel different, like an outcast.”

“I think it’s cool. Like how if you want to undo a spell, you can just siphon the magic.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve never thought about that.” Aunt Bonnie always talked to them about complicated ways other witches used to undo or break spells. Josie and Lizzie could just siphon the magic away, “But sometimes, I just don’t like being different. It’s weird being the only one of two people of your kind. At least you have a bunch of other wolves just like you.” Hope got silent, and Josie held in a smile. She was finally getting somewhere. Maybe Hope would tell her today!, “Did I say something?”

“No, not at all. It’s just that I’ve never felt that connected to other wolves.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t.” Both girls heard the garage door, and Hope’s eyes widened, “You need to go!” _Dammit,_ Josie thought, _she_ _was just about to get somewhere!_

“But we haven’t run the lines yet.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have permission to have anyone over. You gotta go.”

“Okay, I’ll go out the window.”

“No, she’ll hear you. I’m a wolf, so you can siphon me, right? Isn’t there a kind of spell that you can do to teleport yourself?” Josie had an idea.

“Yes, there’s one. Can I take your hand?” Hope nodded, and Josie took her hands before beginning the incantation. She felt her skin heat up a bit when Josie siphoned from her, but in a good way. Aunt Freya always said siphoning was supposed to hurt, but when Josie did it, the pain felt good. She was able to let it in, and embrace it. Almost like the turn. The spell Josie was doing sounded familiar, but she couldn’t remember what it was. Before she knew it, there was a bright light, and Josie was gone by the time the door downstairs opened. She heard her Aunt come up and open her room door.

“Hello darling, how was your night?” she asked.

“Fine,” Hope said, “I watched a movie, and now I’m just working on some stuff for the play.”

“That sounds nice. I stopped by the grill on my way to the bank and got you a milkshake.”

“Peanut Butter Blast?” Hope asked, taking it from her.

“With whipped cream on the bottom, just the way you like, right?”

“Yes. Thank you, Aunt Rebekah.”

“You know, you could have come with me. It’s a Friday night, it wouldn’t hurt for you to get out more. Hang out with some people. Caroline was there with Elizabeth, you could have said hi.”

“Lizzie? She and I aren’t that close.”

“Well, I like her better than her sister who was spreading awful rumors about you.”

“Josie?” Hope asked, “She’s apologized for that.”

“The fact that she did it is enough for me.”

“I thought you wanted me to be her friend.”

“I’d like you to be civil with her. There’s a difference.” Hope refrained from rolling her eyes, wishing Rebekah wouldn’t judge Josie for this. Then again, who was she to call someone out when she’d been doing the same thing for years. She didn’t even know.

“Yeah whatever. And you know, I’d probably be able to make more friends if you actually let me have people over once in a while.”

“Hope, we have blood bags in our fridge and pictures of your father all over the house. People hear things, and they could get suspicious.” Hope made a mental note to take down the cloaking spell she’d placed on the house when Josie had come to the door. It made everything invisible to anything except her and Rebekah, but Rebekah didn’t like it when she did magic in fear of her being found out, so it wasn’t like she could just suggest doing that.

“Yeah I know. I just wish Dad didn’t make it so hard for me to be his daughter.”

“Your father was a troubled man, Hope. He made his mistakes, and sometimes that means we have to deal with them. It’s what family does. Understand?”

“Yeah, I understand. I still have to finish my work. Thanks for the milkshake.”

“No problem. I’ll see you in the morning,” Rebekah said. She closed Hope’s door, and Hope did a spell to take down the cloaking spell. Hope turned to the picture of her with her parents that appeared on her nightstand. She picked it up and held it close to her, wanting its comfort for the night. Back at the Forbes house, Josie had appeared on her bed right when Caroline and Lizzie returned. She kicked her shoes and jacket off before grabbing a book and lying back on her bed. Her Mom opened the door,

“Hey Jo, I brought dinner,” she said.

“Thanks Mom,” she said, taking the bag from her, “How was your day?”

“It was fine. I saw an old friend at the grill, so that was a pleasant surprise.”

“Which friend?”

“Hope’s Aunt actually. She says hi,” Caroline said, 

“Oh cool.” Caroline smiled at her and said,

“I need to get some work done. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” Caroline left, and the minute she was gone, Lizzie came in.

“Tell. Me. Everything!” she said, jumping on the bed as Josie opened her sandwich.

“Give me a second to eat, I’m starving,” Josie said, taking a bite. Oh God that was good. As she ate, Lizzie asked questions.

“Did she let you inside, did you learn anything new about her?”  
“Yes, she let me inside, but there wasn’t much to see in there. That house felt so bare. The only room that looked like someone actually lived in it was Hope’s.”

“You went into her room?” Josie nodded, “What was that like? Tell me, tell me!”

“Alright, calm down. It just looked like any other room. It was a mess, and it was kinda cute to see her embarrassed about it.”

“Boring,” Lizzie said, “What did you guys talk about?”

“Just our families and stuff. She told me that her Dad was just another wolf like her Mom, and at first I believed her, but then her Aunt came home, and since she wasn’t allowed to have friends over, she said I needed to go, and asked if I could do a spell to teleport myself home.”

“Uh huh, then what?”

“So I picked the spell we learned with Aunt Bonnie last year. The one that gets you home fast, but you need to channel the energy of another witch.”

“So if it worked, then that means…”

“It means we were right. Hope is a werewolf  _ and _ a witch. Which means her Dad wasn’t just some werewolf. He had to have been a powerful witch.”

“But even if he was a witch, wouldn’t that go away once she triggered her wolf curse? That’s what Aunt Bonnie said would happen.”

“That’s why I think her Dad wasn’t just a witch. He had to have been something else. Maybe he was also both for some reason, and that’s why she can be.”

“But then how would he have been able to be both?”

“I don’t know. I guess that’s what I gotta find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Josie officially knows Hope is also a witch, but will she learn the truth about who her Dad is...


	7. Stupid With Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie have dinner together and make a startling discovery

The next Monday at school, Hope Mikaelson had a plan. She was going to ask Josie if she wanted to go get a milkshake with her. She was taking Aunt Rebekah’s advice and putting herself out there. She saw Josie at her locker, talking to MG. Josie saw her, and Hope got scared, worried that she was going to be ignored again, like she had been at lunch. But instead, Josie said goodbye to MG, closed her locker door, then walked up to her.

“Hey Hope!” she said with a smile on her face.

“Hey,” Hope said, unsure of how to proceed, “So um, I had a question.” Josie nodded, waiting for her to ask, “I was just wondering if you wanted to…” she trailed off. Josie smiling at her was making her nervous.  _ Why was she being so nice? _

“Wanted to what?” Josie asked.

“Wanted to come to the grill with me tonight and get a milkshake? You can totally say no if you have other plans,” Hope added when she saw Josie’s face fall at the end.

“No it’s just that I’m gr-actually, no. I’d love to go to the grill with you. What time?”  _ Well that was easy. _ Hope tried to think of a basic time.

“Um, 8?”

“Sounds good, see you then,” Josie said, and she squeezed Hope’s shoulder before she walked away.  _ Why was she being so friendly? _ Hope decided not to knock the gift horse in the mouth and celebrate that she actually had plans tonight. Josie, after leaving Hope, had left to find Lizzie who was retouching her makeup in the bathroom.

“Big news!” she told her, “Are we alone?”

“Indeed. What’s going on?”

“I’m going out with Hope tonight,” she said, “Mom still has her council meeting at 8 right?”

“Yes, at the Lockwood Mansion. Where are you and Hope gonna be?”

“The grill. Think that’s far enough?”

“It should be fine. Plus, I can cover for you at home. You’re doing great Josie. She’ll be telling you who her Dad is before we know it!”

“Is it wrong that I’m feeling a little bad about this? She seemed kinda excited when she asked.”

“Jo, stay focused. This is Hope Marshall, we’re doing everyone a favor here. Look, I gotta run, I’ll see you after class.” She wrapped her in a hug, “Don’t worry. Everything is going to go just as we planned.” She let her go and left the bathroom, leaving Josie with growing doubt in her stomach.

Hope was struggling with finding an outfit for her dinner with Josie. She didn’t really have dinners with friends so this was stressing her out. Should she be fancy? Or was what she wore to school appropriate? She’d gone through almost everything in her closet, and was about to give up. Aunt Rebekah heard her rummaging around and came to ask what the matter was.

“I can’t find anything to wear for tonight!” Hope complained.

“Is that what all the ruckus is about? I’d have thought a wild animal was inside,” she said.

“It’s not funny. Can you help me? None of my clothes are nice enough.”

“Well that’s because you refuse to ever go shopping. But, fear not. I may have something in my closet that will fit you.”

“But you never let me wear your stuff.”

“I’ll make an exception if it means you’ll finally be out of the house for once. Though it is a school night. Do I need to give you a curfew? This is so exciting!”

“I don’t need a curfew Aunt Rebekah.”

“You saying no is why I should say yes,” Rebekah said, and Hope decided to humor her because she did look really excited.

“Okay, I’m meeting my friend at eight. When do you think I should be back?”

“Eleven?”

“Yes, eleven is perfect.”

“Which means that it shouldn’t be eleven, right?”

“You got it. What sounds better to you?”

“Well, nine might be a little too early if you’re meeting her at eight...what about ten?”

“Late enough, but early enough for me to complain. It fits.”

“Then I will see you at ten,” Rebekah said, pulling an outfit from the closet, “Try this.”

Josie checked her watch. It was eight oh five. Should she have been upset that Hope was five minutes late? That wasn’t a lot, but the waiter had come twice asking what she’d wanted to drink. Josie saw the waiter come back and felt extremely self conscious until the door opened and Hope walked in. Josie turned to wave her over, and froze at the sight of her. She was wearing makeup, her hair was pulled up into a half ponytail, with some loose curls around her ears, and if that wasn’t enough, she was wearing one of the most beautiful yet casual dresses Josie had ever seen. Though she did hold a laugh at how short Hope was since she was in flats instead of heels. She waved Hope over.

“Is she with you?” the waiter asked her.

“Yes, she is,” Josie said. Hope came and sat next to her, saying,  
“Sorry I’m late, my Aunt wanted to do my hair, and she likes going overboard.”

“It’s fine, and you look amazing,” Josie said, hoping she didn’t sound too weird.

“So do you,” Hope said.  _ Did she mean that? _ All she’d done was change into a skirt. She was still wearing a T-shirt and sneakers. She felt so underdressed compared to Hope.

“Are we ready or do we need a minute?” the waiter asked.

“Um, I’m ready. Josie?” Hope asked.

“Yeah, ready,” she said.

“What are we having?” he asked.

“Grilled cheese,” the both said at the same time. They both looked at each other in alarm.

“Do you both want fries?” They nodded. Hope also ordered a peanut butter blast milkshake with whipped cream on the bottom. Josie ordered strawberry with extra on the top.

“I’ll put that in,” he said, and after he left, they both started to laugh.

“He looked so surprised,” Hope said.

“Yeah. Grilled cheese is iconic. Who wouldn’t want it?”

“Indeed. So um, how was your day?”  _ How was your day? What was she, a thirty year old Mom?  _ She kind of expected Josie to laugh at her for that dumb question, but she answered.

“It was fine. During math, Mr. Facelli forgot to show up, so we just walked out after twenty minutes. I got a free period so I learned all of my songs.”

“Nice. I actually spent mine working on the set. It’s really coming along, but we’d be going a lot faster if MG wasn’t ogling Lizzie the whole time.”

“Oh my God, you’ve noticed that too?”

“Yes! He’s so not subtle about it. Does Lizzie know?”

“I wish. She’s oblivious to what doesn’t involve her.”

“Oh no,” Hope said with a laugh. This was amazing! She was actually talking with her. Was this what having friends was like? The waiter returned with their milkshakes, and as Josie sipped hers, Hope asked, “So when did you get into singing? Lizzie doesn’t do it, so I wonder.” Hope now found herself wanting to know everything about her new friend. 

“Oh, I took singing lessons as a child while Lizzie was in the-” Josie stopped herself, “While Lizzie was busy I mean.” Lizzie never liked it when people knew she used to see a therapist, and Josie doubted she’d be okay with Hope Marshall knowing.

“That’s cool. I can’t sing to save my life.”

“Oh c’mon, you’re being too hard on yourself.”

“No really, I’ve tried it. Not my finest moment.” Josie laughed, and as the two of them made jokes while waiting for her food, she almost forgot why she was actually here. But not completely, and the mission came first. The food came, and as they ate their sandwiches, Josie asked, 

“So when you turn, how can it be not on a full moon?”

“It’s a special thing with the crescent pack. The first one has to happen on the full moon, but anything after that can be whenever you want.”

“Does it hurt?” she nodded.

“It hurts more than anything, it’s all your bones breaking one by one.”

“If it hurts so much, why do you do it?”

“Because once it’s over, and you’re a wolf, it’s the best feeling in the world. There are no burdens, no worries, you’re completely free.”

“That sounds amazing,” Josie said.

“It is. I wish you could feel it too. But I guess there are some spells that you do that give you the same rush, right? What’s your favorite one?”

“I like fire spells,” Josie admitted, “Like the one I accidentally did on you. Ignalusa. Anytime I have this pent up anger, I use that spell. It all goes away.”

“What has you so angry?” Hope asked. She sounded genuine, so Josie decided to be honest.

“Lizzie has always been demanding. Not in a bad way, just that she sometimes needs more attention than I do. And usually I’m fine with that, but sometimes I feel like I spend all my energy on making sure that she is happy, rather than spending it on myself.”

“Sounds to me like you need some more me time,” Hope said.

“Indeed,” Josie went. She checked the time. It was nine, her Mom wouldn’t be coming home from her meeting until ten, “Do you wanna go take a walk? After we’re done here?”

“Sure,” Hope said, “To where?”

“There’s this place called Wickery Bridge. I go there sometimes to think. It’s peaceful. We could talk, I could show you a spell or two.” 

“Yeah, sounds good,” Hope said. They paid for their food, and went to the bridge.

“Is it always this empty?” Hope asked when they got there.

“Indeed,” Josie said, “It’s the best place to practice magic. Lizzie and my parents don’t know this, but I sneak out here sometimes to do spells.”

“What kinds of spells?”

“Basic stuff. Levitation, Earth Magic, that kinds of stuff.”

“What about dark magic? I heard that some witches practiced spells like that. Have you ever used any magic like that?”

“No, I haven’t. Why? Do you know anything about that?”

“I don’t, no,” Hope said, but Josie could tell that she was lying. She’d either done black magic or she’d seen black magic.

“Cool,” she said, “Wanna see something?” Hope nodded. Josie took her arm, siphoned some magic, and murmured a spell. Hope didn’t hear it well enough to decipher it, but before she knew it, a bunch of flowers were blooming around her.

“Awesome!” Hope exclaimed.

“Flowers don’t grow here by themselves,” Josie said, “I like to grow them, and then I throw the petals in the river to make a wish.”

“What do you wish for?”  _ Love, friends, success. _

“Basic stuff. Do you want to make a wish?” Josie handed her the flower. Hope closed her eyes then plucked the petals out. Josie wondered what she’d wished for.

“That was nice,” Hope said. She watched the petals drift away into the water. She watched until they were gone. Maybe her wish went to some higher being when she couldn’t see them anymore.

“Hope? We should probably head back now,” Josie said, breaking her from that thought.

“Yeah, sorry.” she said.

“It’s okay,” Josie said. The two girls walked back, passing the Lockwood mansion as they did. Hope saw Caroline and asked,

“Hey, isn’t that your Mom?” Josie saw her talking with Mayor Donovan. She nodded and said,

“She can’t see me. We’ve gotta go.”

“Wait,” Hope said. She moved some hair out of her ear. She heard the word werewolf come out of Mayor Donovan’s mouth, “I hear something.”

“What is it?” Josie asked. Hope gestured for her to move forward, and the two girls ducked behind a bush so Hope could get closer.

“She’s saying that there have been wolf sightings in town. Dammit, I guess I haven’t been that careful,” Hope said.

“What else are they saying?” Josie asked. Hope leaned forward, and heard Matt say,

“And it’s not just the wolf. Blood bags are going missing. More than usual. Are there any other vampires I need to know about?”

“No, as far as I know there’s Rebekah, MG…”  _ MG? From school! _ Hope had sensed something different about him, but she could never have imagined. Caroline continued with names Hope didn’t much care for. She wasn’t surprised to hear her Aunt’s name in that list. Rebekah and Doctor Saltzman knew each other. He was the one who supplied her with blood bags. So that made her wonder who’d been stealing them. They then went on to talk about the wolves. This was the good part.

“And the wolves?” Mayor Donovan was asking, “What do you know about that?”

“A new wolf just enrolled at Mystic Falls High, but he’s under control,” she was saying. Well that was new information, “And of course, Hayley’s daughter.”

“Hayley’s daughter,” Mayor Donovan said, “I still think the truth about her needs to come out. She’s a Mikaelson  _ tribrid _ . Who knows what she’s capable of?”

“Hope is a good kid. Does she get into trouble sometimes, yeah. But she’s turning things around. She’s not who the council is worried about.” It was nice to hear Josie’s Mom defend her. She always had.

“Well the council isn’t going to take this as good enough, Care. Look I gotta go, some teenagers are having a party down in the woods that I still feel like I need to break up.”

“Yeah, I need to get back to the girls. Matt, listen to me. Don’t worry about Hope. I’ll get the council to calm down, but please leave the kids out of this, they’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I’ll do my best,” he said. He left Caroline, and Hope and Josie immediately had to duck when Caroline’s gaze came their way. She eventually went back inside, and when she did, Josie asked,

“What were my Mom and the Mayor talking about?”

“Supernaturals in Mystic Falls,” Hope said, “Did you know?”

“Know what?” Josie asked.

“About MG. What he is?” Josie was silent for a bit, but she eventually nodded, “So I tell you that I’m a werewolf, but you won’t tell me about the vampires at our school?”  
“He’s the only one,” Josie said, “And you and I only know about each other by accident. I didn’t owe you an explanation for anyone else.”

“Josie, if MG had lost control and tried to attack me that day I cut my finger, I could have done something to him! I’m a werewolf who can change whenever I want, do you have any idea how easy it would be for me to kill him?”

“That’s what you’re upset about? No offense Hope, but that’s not the main issue here. We really need to be focusing on why the council is suspicious of supernaturals!”

“Well maybe the council wouldn’t be suspicious if there weren’t witches running around at all hours doing fire spells!”

“Wow, Hope. You turn into a wolf whenever you want, you aren’t quiet, and yet it’s my fault that the council is getting suspicious.” Hope rolled her eyes, “What? You know I’m right!”

“Can we agree that this is both of our faults?” Hope asked, after deciding to relent for Josie’s sake. If this fight escalated, then someone would hear them.

“Fine. But it’s more yours,” Josie said.

“You know what?” Hope asked.

“What?” Josie asked, and their eyes met. Hope suddenly felt nervous. She never got nervous. This was uncharted territory. But she couldn’t back down. She was a Mikaelson, they never did.

“I think that you’re a scared little witch who is in over her head. You use magic that you can’t control, and you get sloppy, leading to this suspicion!”  
“You watch it,” Josie said, “I could say the same for you. You turn whenever you feel like it, and howl into the night. People have been talking about seeing wolves for weeks!”

“So? Wolves are actual creatures. No one is starting a supernatural hunt over wild dogs,” Hope said. Josie rolled her eyes and said,

“You refuse to take any responsibility. It’s annoying!”

“Oh I don’t take responsibility? How about when you started a rumor about me that lost me some of the only friends I had at that school. How about when you were forced to apologize, and you told me to stay out of your way? You didn’t even say the word sorry.”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“And yet it does! You have no right to yell at me for what I do when it is the only thing that keeps me sane because I don’t have any friends to keep me grounded! All I have is the turn, which is the one thing, the one thing, Josie, that stops me from losing control! So yeah, I transition more than I should. But it was your lies that got me to this place. Take some responsibility for that.”

“Hope-” Josie said, but she cut her off,

“I’m going home. I’ll see you at rehearsal,” she said. She walked away, and Josie considered following her, but she didn’t. Hope was wrong. There was no way this was more Josie’s fault than hers! Josie shook her head at Hope’s retreating form before turning away and going home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are not looking good for Hope and Josie. Let's hope they'll be able to work together if this threat becomes a real problem...


	8. March of the Witch Hunters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attack on the school leads Hope and Josie to perform a risky spell.

Rehearsals weren’t going well. Josie had been a lot less focused, and none of the numbers were progressing as fast as Lizzie wanted.

“Let’s call a five!” she said. She took Josie to the side. Meanwhile, Hope, who’d been working on the scaffolding, was in a harness, drilling a piece of wood in.

“Hey Hope!” MG called from the ground, “I think we’re good up there. Can you come help me get the paint? Mr. Williams has it in his car.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right down,” Hope said. She pulled on the rope and she was lowered. She handed MG the drill as she got herself out of the harness. 

“Thank you ma’am,” he said, giving her a warm smile that she once liked, but now it made her feel guilty. She felt dirty with the knowledge she had about MG. She wondered if she should just tell him that she knew. But where would that get her? He’d just deny it, and she'd lose another friend. Not that MG was really her friend, but he was friendly, so that was what really counted, right?

“Hope, you coming?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorry. I was distracted,” Hope said. She wiped some dust off her pants and followed MG to the car. Josie looked her way as they passed, but Hope didn’t acknowledge her. She’d been stupid to think they’d ever be friends.

“What’s going on between you and Josie?” MG asked, “I thought you two had started to get along. It was actually kinda nice.” Hope shrugged,

“It’s not like we were friends. We only hung out like, once.”

“Oh. It’s just that she was excited. I thought you two were becoming friends.”  _ Josie had been excited to hang out with her? That was new information _ .

“Excited? How do you know?”

“It’s just that she told me she was excited to go get dinner with you. I guess I’d just thought that meant things were good between the two of you.”

“Yeah well I guess not. It didn’t really work out that way,” Hope said. 

“Oh. Bummer.”  _ A bummer indeed _ . She and MG went to the car, and MG said,

“Oh shoot, I forgot the keys. I’ll be right back,” he said. He left Hope by the car, and she decided to pass the time by playing a game on her phone. She was projecting the big fat red bird towards the pigs in Angry Birds when someone came up to her.

“Excuse me ma’am,” he said, “Are you a student here?”

“Who are you?” she asked, deciding not to give a random stranger any information about her. He was a tall man, and he looked strong. If Hope hadn’t been a supernatural, she didn’t think that she would be able to take him.

“My name is Martin Fell, I’m on the town council,” he said, “I received a tip about…” as he trailed off, Hope knew what he wanted to say, and that he was trying to find a way around it, “About mysterious incidents happening here.”

“Nothing mysterious here,” Hope said. MG came back outside with the keys and she said, “If you’ll excuse me, my friend and I have work to do.”

“May I speak to whoever is in charge?”

“You’re not allowed to enter the school after hours unless you’re a teacher, a student, or a parent,” Hope said. She was now glad Dr. Saltzman had once made her study and write down every rule of the school during detention a few months ago for getting into a fight.

“Fine, I’ll come back in the morning then,” he said. He walked away, and MG came back to Hope with concern on his face,

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. That guy was just being creepy.”

“Who was he?”

“Someone from the town council. He said that he was here because he’d been getting reports about mysterious activity happening here.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Beats me,” Hope lied, “Do you have the keys?”

“Right here,” he said, holding them up. He unlocked the car, and the two of them got the paint out. But as Hope reached for the last paint can, something came careening towards her. She didn’t notice it, but MG did, “Hope look out!” Before Hope even knew what was going on, MG was pushing her out of the way just as a bullet came soaring past. A bullet with a familiar smell. One that made Hope’s nose feel like it was bleeding. Wolfsbane.

“What the hell?” she asked herself.

“Are you okay?” MG asked.

“Yeah I’m fine,” she said, “What was that?”

“I don’t know, it came out of nowhere,” MG said. He picked the bullet up, and the black dust from the wolfsbane came out. Hope tried not to breathe it in, “What is this stuff?”

“I don’t know, but we should probably get Mr. Williams.”

“Good idea,” MG said. He closed the car, “We’ll come back for the paint. Come on,” he went inside, and Hope looked around, scanning for anyone who could have shot that gun. She decided to do a tracing spell. She picked the bullet up from the trunk where MG had left it, and winced as it burned her skin. She put it in her pocket so it wouldn’t touch her skin, “Hope let’s go!”

“I’m coming!” Hope called. She ran inside the school to join MG who looked incredibly spooked. When they told Mr. Williams he said,

“Okay, get back in the auditorium. Tell everyone what happened and tell them not to panic. We’re gonna have to lock the school down. Did you lock the door behind you?”

“Yes,” MG said.

“Good, I’m going to get the other doors. Go to the auditorium, lock everything. Call home, explain what happened, and tell them not to come. If this is an active shooter situation, then we can’t have them coming around here. Understand?”

“Yes sir,” MG said, “Come on Hope.” He went to the auditorium, and Hope was about to follow when Mr. Williams said,

“Did the shooter leave anything behind?” The bullet felt like it was burning a whole in her pocket when he asked. She shook her head,

“No, nothing. I couldn’t find the bullet. We only saw it.”

“That’s fine. You can go now,” he said. Hope left his classroom, and heard him dialing numbers on his phone. Using her hearing, she listened in on the call.

“Ric it’s me,” he said, “Hope Mikaelson and Milton Greasely were just attacked outside the school. I’m locking the whole place down. I think it could have been a hunter.” Hope went cold, not because he’d said hunter, but because he’d said Mikaelson. He knew.

“Yeah, I’m locking the other door right now.” Hope could hear him getting up so she quickly ran away. It wouldn’t be good if he saw her. She made it back to the auditorium where everyone was freaking out. MG looked relieved to see her.

“There you are. I was worried, you hadn’t followed me.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I got distracted.”

“Well I’m glad you’re okay,” MG said. He walked to the door and locked it, “I need to call my Mom and Dad. I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks MG,” Hope said. She was going to call Aunt Rebekah, but she knew she had to do the spell on the bullet. It was a hard spell, though. She needed Josie. She looked around for her, and found her with Lizzie and Rafael. She was nervous to approach her with her sister and her friends around. However, Josie made eye contact with her, and when their eyes met, she left Lizzie and walked up to her.

“I need you,” Hope told her.

“I know,” she said, “Let’s go into the changing room.” Josie led her to the room, which was filled with a bunch of costumes. Hope saw Josie’s. It was nice, she knew she’d look good in it, “So let me guess. You need a tracking spell for the shooter.”

“That would be nice, yeah,” Hope said.

“Well, I know a spell. And I’m going to need you for it,” she said.

“Of course, you need someone to siphon. Take what you need,” Hope said.

“That’s not all I need you for,” Josie said. Hope was confused,

“Then why am I here?”

“We’re not friends, so I don’t have to be nice with you. I know what you are, and this spell needs two witches. So sit down with me and chant,” Josie said, handing her a paper with the spell on it.

“Wait. You know that I’m a Mi-”

“That’s you’re a witch-werewolf hybrid? Yeah, I know.”  _ Oh thank God. She didn’t know everything _ . Hope sat on the ground with Josie,

“You could have asked for Lizzie’s help. Why did you ask me?”

“Well first of all you have the bullet, and second...no that was the only reason.” Hope laughed, but Josie didn’t laugh with her.

“Do you have the spell down?” she asked.

“Yes, I have it.” Hope put the bullet on the ground between them, the burn still strong. She then took Josie’s hand, and they started the spell. At first, Hope thought it wasn’t working, but then she saw him. It was Martin Fell, the man from before. He was pocketing the gun, and then he was on the phone, telling someone that he’d failed. The spell broke after that.

“Why did that break so fast?” Josie asked.

“I don’t know,” Hope said, “Josie, your nose!” A small trickle of blood was slowly coming out. Josie put a finger to it, and was shocked. The blood was black, and this wasn’t even black magic!

“I don’t understand, this is just a tracking spell,” Josie said as Hope offered her a tissue.

“Well, it’s a wolfsbane bullet, and you’re siphoning a wolf to do the spell. I guess that’s got something to do with it.”

“Maybe,” Josie said. She finished wiping her nose and said, “You’re bleeding too.”

“It’s healing,” Hope said. She’d felt the blood, but knew it would heal. Josie shook her head.

“It’s not. This spell is hurting both of us.” Hope felt her nose and realized Josie was right. The bullet must have been affecting her. She grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose.

“Are you willing to feel the pain? Because we need to keep going,” Hope said. Josie nodded. They held hands and continued the spell. Hope was taken back into Martin Fell’s world. He was walking into a room, where there were other men and women there. Hunters, Hope figured.

“What do you see?” Josie asked.

“They’re in a room. It looks like a warehouse. There are other people there, and I think that they’re hunters. They have more bullets. They’re mass producing them.”

“Do you see wolfsbane?”

“Wolfsbane, vervain. It’s all there,” Hope said, “And there’s a silverish bullet there too. It doesn’t look normal. I’ve never seen a bullet like that before.”

“Silver bullet for a werewolf?”

“Silver bullets are a myth, something that a real hunter would know. No, those are for something else, I just don’t know what.”

“What’s happening now?”

“He’s talking to somebody. I think...I think they’re talking about your Mom. They said Caroline Forbes, and now they’re…” Hope trailed off.

“Now they’re what?” Josie asked.

“I’m losing them,” Hope said. The spell broke again, and blood was dripping to the ground, “Josie we have to keep going, I’m getting closer. Can you keep going?”

“Yes,” Josie said, though her breaths were labored. They continued to chant the spell, and Hope was returned to the warehouse.

“They’re talking about the council meeting. These hunters...they’re members of the council,” Hope said. The conversation continued, “Now they’re saying that they have the weapon ready. And that...that your Mom is a vampire? But that doesn’t make sense, vampires can’t have kids.” Josie didn’t say anything, she was probably still focusing on the spell. Hope could hear her chanting, “And now they’re saying that they know Caroline’s been “hiding” supernaturals at Mystic Falls High, and...oh my God.”

“What?” Josie asked.

“One of the hunters in here is Mr. Facelli.”

“Our math teacher Mr. Facelli?”

“Yes! Apparently, he set up some kind of supernatural detector in the school. When Martin Fell came to the school today, it was to get me and MG. He knows we’re supernatural.”

“What is he saying now?”

“That he went after two of the kids on their radar, but that we got away and went back in the school. They don’t plan on coming back today, though.”

“When will they come back then?”

“That they need to wait for their bullets to finish getting produced. Right now they’re saying about a week, and then they’re gonna go after…” Hope stopped again.

“Go after who?”

“You need to keep chanting the spell, I’m starting to lose him,” she said. Josie continued the spell, and Hope could now hear Martin more clearly, and she felt a chill as she heard what he was saying, “He says that he wants to go after Caroline Forbes’s kids.” As an immense pain went through her head, Hope dropped hands with Josie.

“He’s going after me?” Josie asked.

“You and Lizzie, they know you’re witches. They’re going to be at your house during the council meeting a week from today, and they’re gonna take you out.”

“What?” Josie asked, but she never got an answer, because the door opened and Alaric came in.

“Josie!” he exclaimed, running towards his daughter, who now had a face covered in blood. Hope could feel it on her face too, and her head hurt like hell.

“I’m fine, Dad,” Josie said. She grabbed a tissue, and wiped at the blood. It was all black, just like the blood that had been pouring out of Hope’s nose. Hope’s sinuses felt inflamed, probably from the wolfsbane. She coughed and doubled over.

“Hope, are you alright?” Alaric said.

“I’m fine,” she said with a cough. Alaric checked her forehead and said, 

“No you’re not. C’mon, your Aunt is outside. Josie, wait here, I’ll be right back.” He helped Hope to her feet and gave her a tissue. That spell was making her so weak. She wiped her face while she walked with Alaric, who kept her balanced, all the way to her car, where Rebekah was waiting with concern on her face.

“Come on sweetheart, get inside,” she said. She took Hope and helped her in the front seat. Hope collapsed in her seat. Her head was killing her.

“What happened?” she heard Rebekah ask Alaric.

“Someone shot at her and another student,” Alaric said, “She’s fine, and the shooter situation is no longer active, but I think she and my daughter did a spell on the bullet to find the shooter. That hard spell combined with a bullet filled with something that’s poisonous to her made that spell damn near fatal for both of them.” Rebekah turned to Hope and asked,

“What were you thinking?”

“You’re really gonna yell at me while I’m in pain?” Hope asked. Rebekah shook her head, 

“We’ll talk about this later. Sit up or you’ll hurt your neck.” Hope sighed and moved her position, and Rebekah and Alaric continued to talk, “How does she know about your daughter?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out. Just get her home, we’ll figure all of this out soon.”

“Thank you, Ric,” she said, “I’ll keep in touch.” Alaric waved a goodbye, then Rebekah joined Hope in the car, “How did you learn about Josie? And what does she know about you?”

“You’re just jumping straight to it, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be cute. What do you know?”

“I found out because she did a spell around me when I was out being a wolf. It was the time I snuck out. I know I said I didn’t see anyone, but that was a lie.”

“You and I don’t lie to each other, Hope.”

“Except we clearly do, since Josie being a witch isn’t news to you.”

“I know Josie is a witch because I was friends with her mother. What Josie is should not be your concern, Hope. What does she know about you?”

“Just that I’m a werewitch or whatever. She doesn’t know I’m a Mikaelson, if that’s what you really want to know, but she needed my help with the spell, and I couldn’t say no.”

“Well you should’ve. Hope there are no other wolf-witch hybrids in existence. If Josie tells anybody, then we have to leave. How many times must I tell you this?”

“Josie won’t be telling much of anything. She’s in danger, both her and her sister. When I was doing the spell, I got to see the hunters, and they’re going to go after them.”

“For what? For being witches?”

“Yes, and because their mother is a vampire.” Rebekah’s face paled, “I thought they were lying because vampires can’t have kids, but then I remembered Josie telling me that Caroline was her surrogate. Which means they aren’t biologically hers. So tell me, were they telling the truth?”

“Yes,” she said, “Caroline is a vampire, just like me. Your father’s sireline, though.”

“You’re officially not allowed to call me out for lying.”

“My lies never put you in any danger. You lied to me about someone knowing your identity, which is the one thing that I’ve told you ad nauseum could  _ never _ happen.”

“Aunt Rebekah, that’s not what the problem is. Lizzie and Josie are in danger.”

“And I will be speaking to Caroline about what you saw. I won’t let anything happen to her or her daughters, I can assure you of that.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. What else did you see while you were doing the spell?”

“I saw all the members of the council except Mayor Donovan and Miss Forbes.”

“How do you know who the council members are?”

“Josie and I accidentally stumbled on one of their meetings. While we were there, Mayor Donovan was telling her that the Council was suspicious of wolves in town, and that people should know who I am.” Rebekah laughed,

“Oh Matt. I’ll get him off your back with that. What else did you see?” Hope decided to ignore how giggly her Aunt got at the mention of Matt and continued with,

“They were mass producing wolfsbane and vervain and putting it into bullets. I think they’re planning an attack.”

“When?”

“In about a week. They said that was when the bullets would be done. Then Martin Fell said that he would be going after Lizzie and Josie a week from today during the next meeting.”

“Are they all going?” Hope nodded, “Then I guess we’ll have to stop them there.”

“Oooh are we gonna fight?”

“No, I’m going to fight. You’re going to stay in your room and out of harm’s way.”

“That’s not fair. I’m a Mikaelson witch, I can take a few hunters.”

“No, you could get hurt.” Rebekah pulled up to their house and said, “Get inside and go lay down. The pressure should be gone soon but you’re going to be a little disoriented for a bit. Do you need me to help you?”

“I’m fine,” Hope said, “Where are you going?”

“To pay Mayor Donovan a visit. Stay inside, don’t open the door to anybody.”

“Okay,” she said. She got out of the car and went to her room. Her head was hurting a little less, but there was still some blood on her face. She did a spell to get rid of it, but that just made her bleed more. Magic was not her friend today. Luckily for her, the new blood was red. She washed a cloth and wiped her face of the blood before going to lay down. She felt a lot better, but the pressure was still there. She regretted continuing that spell. At Caroline’s house, Josie was asleep on the couch with a cloth on her head while her parents talked in the kitchen.

“Why was she doing spells with Hope?” Caroline asked Alaric.

“Beats me. I didn’t even know that Josie knew Hope had powers.” He lowered his voice and continued with, “But she doesn’t know who her father is. When we were in a car, she seemed to just think she was a hybrid of a witch and a werewolf.”

“Are you sure?” he nodded, “Okay, so we don’t need to worry about that. What did the girls see when they did the spell?”

“Josie hasn’t been in a good enough mindset to tell me. Both their faces were covered in blood when I walked in, they really exerted themselves.”

“That means they really wanted to find someone. Can you take Lizzie for the night? I think some time with just me and Josie could get her to open up.”

“Sure, just let me know what she says. I need to call Dorian back and tell him we got the bullet. He’ll want to examine that.” Caroline nodded and he left to take his call. She went to the living room where Josie was still asleep, with Lizzie watching her vigilantly. Her face had been cleaned of all the blood, but she was still sweating, and she looked like she was in pain. She fidgeted in her sleep, almost like she was having a bad dream.

“How’s she doing Liz?” Caroline asked her daughter, wrapping her arms around her.

“Not well. I can feel the magic in her body. It’s causing her pain. Mom, what spell did she do? I’ve never seen her like this before.”

“It was a tracking spell. She wanted to find out who it was that shot at your friends.”

“She could have asked me to do it with her. I would have helped her.” Lizzie helping her would have been ideal. Ric seemed to believe the only reason the spell was affecting Josie so badly was because she’d siphoned a wolf to track a wolfsbane bullet.

“I guess she trusted Hope,” Caroline said, “Sweetie, how long have you known that Hope was a witch?” She shrugged,

“I don’t remember, but it’s definitely been a few months. I saw her doing a spell, she wasn’t being discrete. I’m sorry, I should have told you.”

“Yeah, you should have. But that’s not what matters here. Josie needs some rest, then I need to talk to her. I’d like you to stay with your Dad tonight.”

“No, I wanna be with Josie.”

“You will see Josie at school tomorrow, but right now, I need some alone time with her. Plus, I think some time to herself will do her some good.”

“Fine, can you call me after she wakes up?”

“Yes. Now go and pack a bag, your Dad is waiting.” She gave Lizzie a kiss on the cheek and let her go get her stuff. She looked at her other daughter, looking sick and miserable on the couch. She went to get another wet cloth for her head since she was still sweating. She heard Lizzie and Ric leave as she did so. She returned to Josie and switched the cloths out. She stroked her arm and said, “Please wake up, baby. Everything is okay, you’re safe.” Josie didn’t move. Caroline sat with her for hours, and she considered calling a doctor, when finally, Josie’s eyes opened, “Josie, baby?”

“Mom?” she asked drowsily, “What’s going on? Where is Lizzie?”

“She’s spending the night with Dad. Here, sit up.” Caroline helped Josie into a sitting position and went to sit next to her. She removed the cloth and felt Josie’s forehead. She wasn’t hot anymore, and the sweating had stopped. A good sign.

“What happened? How long have I been asleep?”

“A while. It’s almost midnight,” she said, “You siphoned Hope to do a spell, and you passed out the minute your Dad brought you home.”

“Oh my God, Hope,” Josie said, “She said that she saw-” she was cut off when she started coughing. Caroline vamp sped away and came back with some water.

“Here, drink this,” she said. Josie took the water and took a sip, but that was all she could stomach. She still felt weak, “What were you saying? What did Hope see?”

“She said that she saw the town council,  _ your _ council making weapons. Vervain darts, wolfsbane bullets. Stakes. They’re going to come after the supernaturals.”

“The council wouldn’t do that.”

“Hope saw all of them. They’re going to come after me and Lizzie, they said it themselves. Mom, they know that you’re a vampire.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Less impossible than you think. Hope said their exact words were they want to go after Caroline Forbes’s kids. Plus, our math teacher Mr. Facelli put a supernatural detector in his classroom weeks ago. He knows Lizzie, MG, Hope, and I are all supernatural. Once he gets us, he’s going to go after them. He said the bullets would be ready in a week.”

“Mr. Facelli? He isn’t even on the council.”

“Well then he’s working with them. Hope said she saw him clearly.”

“Dammit,” Caroline said, “Okay Jo, I don’t want you to worry. You and Lizzie are going to be fine, your Dad and I will take care of this.”

“How? You guys can’t fight an army, there are only two of you.” There was a knock on the door.

“That’s odd,” Caroline said, “Try to finish that water, okay?” Josie nodded, and Caroline went to the door. She opened it, and Josie heard a woman with an accent say hi.

“Hey come on in,” her Mom said. Josie saw a blonde woman come in, with Hope behind her. She was guessing that was Hope’s Aunt, “Jos, this is Hope’s Aunt Rebekah.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Marshall,” Josie said.

“A pleasure to meet you, Josie. Hope has told me so much about you,” Rebekah said.  _ She had? _

“All bad things, right?” Josie joked.

“Not at all,” Rebekah said, and Hope’s face went red. Rebekah gave Hope a kiss on the cheek before leaving with Caroline to talk in the kitchen. Hope awkwardly stood there, so Josie broke the silence and said,

“You can sit down if you want.”

“Oh, thanks,” Hope said. She sat next to Josie, but kept a lot of space between them.

“How are you feeling?” Josie asked.

“Like Hell. I’ve been coughing up blood for hours. Aunt Rebekah wanted me to stay home, but I thought that we should talk about what we saw.”

“There’s not much to say. Those hunters are going to come after me. And right now, I don’t know if I have the strength to fight them.”

“You won’t fight them alone. I’m here, Josie.”

“For God sakes, Hope,” Josie said, “You said it yourself, we aren’t friends. We did a spell together, and it almost killed us. I have the feeling that us fighting together would not go well.”

“Fine, don’t accept my help. But if Mr. Facelli has been tracking supernaturals, then he knows about me, and MG, and whatever new wolf your Mom and Mayor Donovan were talking about. They aren’t going to stop with you, Josie. So don’t think of me as doing this for you, I’m doing this for  _ myself _ , because guess what? I don’t wanna die. I want to have a life, a  _ normal _ life. So I don’t care if you don’t wanna be friends, I don’t even care about you. All I care about is-” Hope’s long tirade was cut off when Josie leaned in and kissed her. And it wasn’t one of those one second pecks that someone did when they were nervous. It was a full on  _ kiss _ . Hope should have shoved her away. She should have done a spell to get her to stay away, but she didn’t. She kissed her back. And she didn’t hold back when she did. She could feel the adrenaline in her body, and she could feel Josie siphon from her, and it felt so damn  _ good _ . She never wanted her to stop. But she did, and when she did, she looked into her eyes and said,

“Well I care about you. Even though I definitely shouldn’t.”

“Josie,” Hope said.

“I need to go to bed, my head still hurts,” she said. She got up to leave, but Hope grabbed her arm, stopping her, “What?”

“I didn’t mean it,” she said, “I didn’t mean any of it.” Josie gave her a sad smile,

“Yeah you did.” She went upstairs, and Hope slumped back on the couch, her headache returning full force. Josie was right, she had meant it. Hope had had self interest in mind, which she and Josie both seemed to get. But now, things were different, and she knew what she had to do. She was going to fight these hunters, no matter what Aunt Rebekah or Caroline Forbes said. She would fight, and none of them would lay a hand on Josie Saltzman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was definitely one of my favorites to write! More action to come in the next one..
> 
> Also, I've been listening to the song "So Will I" by Ben Platt and it reminds me a lot of Hosie. Check it out if you want, it's pretty good :)


	9. I Could Never Rescue You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie face a terrifying evil, and make many revelations...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one, and I hope you all enjoy. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting! It really means a lot :)

The days went by like weeks. Josie was growing nervous. Lizzie had been told what was going to happen, but she didn’t seem fazed.

“You do realize we’re going to die, right?” Josie asked her while they were getting lunch at the grill. After two long weeks, she was finally not grounded anymore, but she was finding it hard to enjoy herself when she had an expiration date coming up in two days. She’d tried busying herself in the play, but Raf hadn’t been in school today, so she’d been unable to run any scenes. All she’d been able to do during rehearsal was sit there and think about the impending doom.

“Oh relax, we’re going to be fine. Mom and Hope’s Aunt are going to protect us, Dad’s there too, and we’re witches! We have nothing to worry about.” Lizzie’s calm wasn’t helping ease her worries at all.

“You didn’t see their armory, Hope and I did. What if we’re not enough?”

“Josie, Mom and Dad won’t let anything happen to us.”

“But what if something happens to them?”

“Nothing is going to happen to them. We have powers, they have guns. Powers always win.”

“Not always,” Josie said, “I’m not that hungry anymore, I want to go home.”

“Aww c’mon, this could be our last meal here.”

“That’s not funny,” Josie said, “I’m really not in the mood for grilled cheese right now.”

“Fine, we can go home,” Lizzie said. She paid for what they had eaten, and the two girls walked home. Josie remained quiet for most of it, so Lizzie broke it, “Jo, what’s on your mind?”

“What do you think, Lizzie? I’m scared, and you should be too.”

“I’m thinking that I trust our parents to protect us and themselves. You should try it, you’d definitely be feeling a lot better.”

“If I let my guard down, that’ll make me too easy of a target.”

“So I’m an easy target?”

“You kind of are right now,” Josie said, “You’re just blindly trusting other people to protect us without even a thought to what could happen. Aren’t you at least a little bit afraid?” Lizzie was quiet. The two of them walked in silence until she said,

“Yeah, I’m a little afraid. And it’s not just me I’m afraid for. What about MG? He’s got no clue that this is happening, and he could get hurt.”

“Yeah, I get how you feel,” Josie said, thinking about Hope. At least she knew.

“We’re not going to die, right?”

“Here’s hoping,” Josie said. They got to the house, and saw their Mom with Hope’s Aunt. Josie wondered if Hope was here, but sadly, she wasn’t.

“Girls, why don’t you go upstairs? Rebekah and I will be done soon and then we can start on dinner,” Caroline said. Lizzie went upstairs, but Josie stupidly asked about Hope. She hadn’t been in school today either, and truth was, she missed her.

“Oh, she was still feeling a little ill,” Rebekah said, “Would you like to speak to her?”

“Um no, it’s fine,” Josie said, “I was just wondering.” Both her Mom and Rebekah were giving her weird looks, so Josie decided to just go. She hoped Rebekah didn’t tell Hope Josie had been asking about her, that would be embarrassing. She went into her room, where Lizzie was waiting.

“What took you so long?” she asked.

“I was just wondering if Hope was here.”

“Why do you care?” Josie shrugged, “Jos, just because we’re about to be attacked doesn’t mean our plan needs to go down the drain. Look, we know about Hope now. We have all the evidence we need to get her out, we just need to figure out who her Dad is.”

“Lizzie, I can’t keep doing this. It doesn’t feel right anymore.”

“Why? Josie, we’re so close.”

“I don’t care anymore!” Josie said, “I don’t want her to leave.” Lizzie frowned,

“Why not? She’s not our friend, all she causes is trouble, the only reason we’ve been hanging out is because she doesn’t want to get expelled, and we don’t even like her.” Josie was silent, “We don’t like her, right Josie?”

“What do you want me to say? You told me to pretend to befriend her.”

“Exactly!  _ Pretend _ being the key word!”

“Well I don’t want to pretend anymore!” Josie shouted at her, “Don’t you get it Lizzie? She’s not a bad person! If anything, I am. I started the rumor, I lied to her and acted like we were friends. I alienated her at school, and I made sure that she never enjoyed a single day there!”

“Josie-”

“No, I’m not done. We might have Hope where we need her, and we might be able to run her out of town, but I don’t want to! We were wrong, Lizzie. We lied, and I think it was actually working. I was leading her on, and I think she believed that we were actually friends. Except we weren’t, and that’s what makes me in the wrong here. Because I led her to believe that there was someone in her corner, when she was just alone.”

“Josie!” Lizzie said again, but this time with more force. She was looking towards the door. Josie turned around and saw Hope standing there, with more pain than she ever thought possible in her eyes.

“Hope,” Josie said, “Listen, I didn’t mean-”

“Yeah you did,” Hope said. She left, and Josie said,

“I need to find her.”

“No you don’t, you need to stay here with me while we figure out a plan for when the hunters come. The next council meeting is tomorrow, they’ll be here before we know it. We have to be prepared.” Josie pulled her jacket on,

“I have to find her, she shouldn’t be out there alone and upset.”

“And do you think seeing you will make her feel better?”

“Maybe not, but I’m still gonna look for her. So get out of my way and let me.” Lizzie rolled her eyes and said,

“You’re making a mistake.”

“Maybe,” she said. Lizzie let her go, and when Josie went downstairs, her Mom and Rebekah were still there, talking. Rebekah saw her and said,

“Oh Josie, I called Hope over. Did you see her?”

“Yeah, she and I are actually just gonna go on a walk,” Josie lied, “And she’s already outside, so I’d better get going.”

“Don’t go too far,” Caroline said, “Stay together, and keep your phones on you.”

“We will,” Josie said. She left the house and took her keys with her. She still had the wolfsbane bullet, and she could do a spell to trace it to Hope without getting hurt. She walked a few minutes away from her house, and hid by a tree to do the spell. She held the bullet, siphoned the magic out of the key, and started the spell. Soon, she saw what Hope did. She was in the woods by the school. Josie stopped the spell, and ran there to find her. When she got there, she searched through those woods for a long time. So long that it was almost about to get dark. She could hear her phone buzzing. She checked it, but it was just Lizzie. She could wait. She put her phone back, and shouted for Hope, “Hope! I know you’re there somewhere. Just come out and we can talk!” She got nothing, “Hope please, I know you’re here somewhere. Look, I’m sorry about what I said. I can explain all of it if you just let me.” She still got no answer. Josie felt her frustration soar. Maybe she’d left the woods. Or maybe she’d wolfed out. But she still couldn’t give up, “Hope! God where are you?”

“Just what I was wondering!” a voice boomed. Josie turned and saw Mr. Facelli standing in front of her, “Where do you think I can find her, Ms. Saltzman?”

“Stay away from me,” she said, backing away from the gun he had aimed at her.

“No, I don’t think I will,” he said. He raised his gun and fired. The bullet hit Josie in the shoulder, and she could slowly feel it taking her power away. Her vision clouded, and she fell to the ground.

When Josie woke, she was no longer in the woods. She was in a room, lying on a bed. She tried to get up but she couldn’t. She just felt so weak. She coughed, and blood came out. That couldn’t be good. She turned to her arm where the bullet had been. She saw that it was still there. It didn’t look like any other bullet. It was lodged in there, and it was pretty deep. She tried to pull it out but it hurt like hell. She fell back on the bed.

“Josie?” a weak voice asked. She turned and saw someone that she’d never expect to see in a cell meant for supernaturals,

“Rafael?” she asked. Sure enough, her co star from the play was in the room, strapped down to a bed. He was connected to an IV with a yellowish liquid inside. It had a familiar smell. Josie recognized it from the bullet she’d just used in her attempt to find Hope. It was wolfsbane. The council was injecting him with it. Which they wouldn’t need to do unless…, “You’re a wolf, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, “What is this? What are we doing here?” Josie wasn’t strapped down, so she attempted to get up, but she could barely stand. The bullet seemed to be invading her whole body, making her weaker by the second.

“I think we’ve been had,” Josie said, “Can you try to break free? I can’t move.”

“No, I can’t. Mr. Facelli, he grabbed me the minute I got to school. He put me in here, and they’ve been filling me with this crap all day.”

“He got me in the woods by the school when I was looking for Hope,” Josie said, “He shot me with this bullet, and I don’t know why, but I can’t move. At least, not without being in too much pain.”

“Can you try?” he asked. I really can’t move at all. You’ve got a bigger chance.”

“Yeah, I can try. But are you going to tell me why Mr. Facelli took you, or are you going to continue lying to me and saying you don’t know.” Rafael looked her in the eye and said,

“I’ll only talk if you do.”  _ Okay, that was fair _ . Josie grabbed the headboard of the bed to pull herself up. That act alone caused her to cough again, the black blood coming out.

“I’m a witch,” Josie said after she finished coughing. She got to her feet, and shakily started to walk towards Rafael. She made it two steps before falling.

“A witch?” Rafael asked. Josie nodded from the ground. She didn’t have the strength to answer. She also couldn’t stand, so she crawled forward, each movement killing her.

“I have magic, and Mr. Facelli knows it,” she said, “He put a supernatural detector in the school, and he’s part of a council who has been planning on going after us for God knows how long?”

“Us? Who is us?” Rafael asked.

“I’m not saying a thing until you answer me,” Josie said. She made it to Rafael’s bed and attempted to get up to the top to remove the binds, but she couldn’t. So instead, she took the stand with the IV and pulled. Rafael yelled in pain as Josie ripped the IV from his arm.

“Ow!” he said.

“Sorry,” she said, “So, my question?”

“You’re right,” he said, “I’m a wolf, I’ve been a wolf for a few months now. I don’t know how or why it happened, but a few days before I moved here, I turned into a wolf the night of the full moon. I was kicked out of my foster home, and was moved here.”

“You don’t know how you triggered the curse?” Josie asked.

“No, I don’t,” he said. Josie saw him wiggling one of his hands against the restraints, “I’ve almost got this arm, hold on.” Josie lay on the ground until he eventually got his arm free. Her guess was the wolfsbane had been all that was stopping him. Rafael got himself free, and got up from the bed. He still looked a little weak from all the wolfsbane that he’d been injected with, “You ready to go?”

“Hell yeah,” Josie said. Rafael moved to help her up, but he wasn’t doing too well when it came to strength. He doubled over and said,

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s the wolfsbane,” Josie said, “It’s still in your system.”

“How do I get it out?”

“It’s in your blood, so you’d have to bleed it out,” Josie said, “Here.” She took his hand and siphoned some magic. She saw him wince. She uttered a small spell to make a cut. The spell did what it was supposed to do, but it caused her more pain than him. It spread through her body and she retched up some more blood.

“Josie!” he exclaimed.

“I’m fine. C’mon, we need to get out of here,” she said. Rafael was bleeding, and because of all the wolfsbane, he wasn’t healing fast enough. But, he was able to stand. He helped Josie up and asked,

“What were you doing when you were holding onto me?”

“Siphoning magic from you,” Josie said, “It’s a long story and I will explain it to you, but we need to get out of here first.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said, “Let’s go.”

Hope had been walking alone by the school for a while. The sun was going to set soon, and she could hear Aunt Rebekah texting her. She was listening to music on her phone and she was getting a notification every other verse. She pulled her phone out and frowned at the texts. Most of them were basic “where are yous”, but some of them kept asking if “they” were okay.  _ Who the hell was they? _ Hope just ignored it. She didn’t care if she got yelled at for ignoring Rebekah, she just felt so mad. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Josie hadn’t wanted to be her friend! And why would she, it wasn’t like Hope even cared about her, right?

“Hope?” she heard someone ask. She perked up, turned around and asked,

“Josie?” She winced at how excited she sounded. Now Josie was going to think she was desperate. However, the girl who’d called for her hadn’t been Josie. It was her sister.

“No, just me,” Lizzie said.

“What are you doing here?” Hope asked.

“I was looking for Josie, who everybody thinks is with you, by the way, so I did a tracking spell on her, only to have nothing come up, so I did one on you, so here I am.”

“Why does everyone think Josie is with me?”

“Because she said the two of you were going on a walk.”

“Well she lied, I haven’t seen her since I left your house and realized that the two of you are probably the worst people on the planet.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Lizzie said with a very over the top eye roll.  _ Hypocrite _ , “Look, will you just help me find her? Mom says we shouldn’t be out on our own, and I’m worried.”

“If we shouldn’t be out on our own, then how are you here?”

“I snuck out,” Lizzie admitted, “I called Josie three times and she never picked up. She always picks up when I call, I’m worried. I need to know she’s okay.” Lizzie’s worry was making Hope worry, so she said,

“Okay, I’ll help you find her. Where do you think she went?”

“She said she wanted to find you, so probably around here.” Hope nodded and said,

“Then let’s look around. Maybe she left something behind.”  _ Or maybe Hope could catch her scent _ . She kept away from Lizzie as she used her powers, only for Lizzie to say,

“I know you’re a wolf, Marshall. You don’t have to act all secretive. Plus you’re terrible at it, so this is just really embarrassing for you.”  _ Well then. _

“Fine,” Hope said. She remained closer to Lizzie, and she let her eyes change color so she could see better in the slowly darkening forest. She was about to give up until she caught a hint of lavender. Lavender blossom was the distinct perfume Josie always wore, “I think I have something. This way.” She followed the scent, and it got stronger as she approached a clearing.

“Where is she?” Lizzie asked.

“I never said I found her, I said I found something.” Hope looked around, and sniffed again, trying to pick something up.

“Wow Marshall, you’re just as useless at being a werewolf as you are in literally everything,” Lizzie said. Hope ignored her, “This is just perfect. My sister is missing just because she was upset that she hurt your feelings. You, of all people.” Hope ignored her and kept following the scent until she found something that sent a chill down her back.

“Lizzie,” she said.

“And why should she feel bad about you? It’s not like you’re her friend. All you ever do is get into trouble, and then act like you’re such a victim when no one is nice to you because of that.”

“Lizzie!” Hope repeated, stopping her rant, “I think I found something. Look.” Lizzie came over to join her, and Hope saw fear spring into her eyes when she saw it. It was Josie’s phone, and it was surrounded by a pool of blood.

“Is that...”

“It’s Josie’s,” Hope answered for her. She picked it up and said, “I can do a tracking spell with it.”

“It won’t work. I tried one and nothing came up. I think someone might be trying to hide her.”

“Then we’re doing this the old fashioned way. We’re following the scent,” Hope said, “Come on.” She followed Josie’s scent trail, and from behind could hear Lizzie go,

“Worst Friday night ever!”

Josie and Raf were lost. The room they’d been in hadn’t been locked, Josie’s guess being that Mr. Facelli hadn’t thought they’d be able to escape, but now they were trapped in what seemed to be a maze within a building. Almost every turn they took ended up a dead end.

“This is hopeless,” Josie said, “They’ll find us again long before we get out of here.”

“Don’t think like that,” Rafael said, “One of these turns has to be a way out. Look, up there.” He strengthened his grip on Josie and walked the two of them towards a door at the end of the hall. He pulled on it to open it, but it was locked, “Dammit.”

“I can unlock it,” Josie said. She took Raf’s hand and siphoned some magic before doing the spell. Magic still wasn’t her friend, since she coughed up blood right after, but the door opened, and they were able to get through.

“It can’t be much farther now,” Rafael said, but he was proven wrong when they walked through the door and just saw more hallways, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Josie could hear some footsteps coming from above.

“Do you hear that?” she asked him.

“I do,” he said, “Maybe instead of going forward, we should be going up. C’mon, there’s gotta be a staircase somewhere here.”

“How is going  _ towards _ the footsteps going to help us?”

“Because if there’s people, then there’s a way out. If we stay discrete, we should be able to stay off their radar and get out of here. Then we can get you to a hospital.” That didn’t sound like the best plan, but she knew it was all they had.

“Town laws say any building paid for by the town needs a sign by their staircases to keep up with firecodes, and this building feels like it’s decades old, so I doubt these guys are paying for it themselves..”

“Okay, keep an eye out,” Rafael said. He moved forward, and Josie tried to keep her head up to look for the sign, but she still felt weak, and the pain was getting worse. She slumped against Rafael’s shoulder, unable to move, “Hey, you doing alright?”

“No, but ignore me. We gotta keep going.” Rafael nodded, but there was concern on his face. He moved Josie a bit to support her better and walked down the hallways until he found a door with a faded sign next to it. He rubbed away some dust, and saw the stairs logo, 

“Found it!” He opened the door, and carefully maneuvered himself and Josie up the staircase. His arm never left Josie, and he kept her supported the whole way up. His arm had bled out a lot of the wolfsbane, and he’d gained a lot of strength back, which Josie was glad for, because if they ran into a council member, there wasn’t much she could do to protect herself. Rafael made it to the stop of the stairs, and when he opened the door, the two of them met a rude awakening of three council members on the other side, all with guns aimed right at them.

“You kids really should have stayed put,” the man in the front said, and just when it seemed like he was going to pull the trigger and kill them both, Josie heard a familiar voice utter a spell. The three council members fell to the ground. Josie and Raf looked to where they’d been standing and saw Hope Marshall standing there.

“That was only a sleep spell so we gotta move,” Hope said.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Rafael asked.

“Trust me, I’ve got no idea,” Josie said, but she was still pretty grateful. Hope hopped over the sleeping council members and went to help Raf support Josie.

“What happened to you guys?”

“They got me in the morning, then Josie came in a few hours ago,” Rafael said, “What are you doing here? How did you find us?”

“And how’d you get in?” Josie asked.

“I had some help,” Hope said, not answering Rafael. Josie could tell that Hope was just as confused about why Raf was here as he was that she was here, but that really needed to wait. She was glad Hope and Raf realized that too, because they both worked to support Josie, and Hope was able to guide them to some sort of an exit, which was really just a giant hole in the wall.

“Did you do that?” Josie asked.

“Like I said, I had help,” Hope said. She gestured to her help, which was a surprise for Josie.

“Jo!” Lizzie said, running to her sister, “What happened? What did they do to you?”

“It was Mr. Facelli,” Josie coughed out, “He shot me with this bullet.” While Lizzie tried to help Josie with her pain, Hope was helping Rafael. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked him as she looked over the cut on his arm. She murmured a healing spell and watched it close up.

“I could ask you the same question. In fact, I already did.”

“I was just helping Lizzie look for her sister,” Hope said. She could smell a scent on Rafael that was making her sinuses burn, “Wolfsbane. That’s what they infected you with.” She remembered the conversation between Mayor Donovan and Josie’s Mom at the Council Meeting. The new wolf at school. It had to be Rafael.

“I don’t know what that is,” he said, “All I know is that they wanted to kill me.”

“Do you know why they’d want to do that?”

“I have a guess, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing it with you,” he said, “We need to get Josie to a hospital, she’s really sick.” He left Hope to go back to Josie, and she followed him. Lizzie had Josie against the wall, and she looked terrible.

“Josie, how are you feeling?” she asked her.

“Awful,” she said, “I got shot with this bullet, and I don’t know why but it’s messing up my magic.” Hope got closer to Josie and moved her shirt out of the way to look at the bullet. 

“That bullet is in there pretty deep, and see these?” she asked. Josie looked at the black lines Hope was pointing to, “It’s poison, going through your body.”

“Am I gonna die?” she asked.

“No, I’m not gonna let you,” Hope said. She heard a twig snap, and was hoping that was something far away she heard with wolf hearing, but Lizzie asked,

“What was that?”

“Nothing good. You guys stay with Josie. I’m gonna go check it out.”

“I’m coming with you,” Rafael said, “This could be dangerous.”  _ Dammit. She couldn’t wolf out if Rafael was with her. Especially if he’d seen her do a spell. _ But Hope knew Raf wasn’t about to take no for an answer on this.

“Fine,” she said, “Just do me a favor and stay behind me.” Hope and Raf left Lizzie and Josie, and went the direction of the twig. It wasn’t long before Hope heard a gunshot. A bullet was coming towards them. She did a spell to deflect it and said, “We got incoming.”

“What do we do?” Rafael asked.

“We fight,” Hope said. She was very grateful for all the training she’d gotten from Marcel growing up. The first council member came from her, and she was instantly locked in the fight. While she was worried about Rafael at first, one look at him made her realize he was fine. He grabbed a man’s arm and wrenched it backwards. Hope drop kicked the woman who came her way, then used a spell to shoot her right into a man jumping towards her. The two of them fell, but they alerted more.

“Hope,” Rafael said, and she could see the fear in his eyes. But they couldn’t be governed by fear, not when their lives were in danger.

“We can’t let them get to Josie. I have an idea,” Hope said. She chanted the spell. It was dark magic, and it was risky, but she had to try. She continued to chant, and Raf said,

“Hope they’re getting closer!” Hope continued the spell, and she raised her hands up. She could feel the power building. She could see all the hunters. She had to do this now. She finished the spell, and shot it straight at them. The hunters screamed as fire grew around them, and Raf looked horrified.

“Come on, we gotta go.” She ran back towards Josie, and after a few moments, Raf followed.

“What will that spell do?” he asked.

“Burn them,” Hope said, “I didn’t use enough to kill them, but it’ll leave a mark.” She returned to Josie who wasn’t doing much better. In fact, she looked a lot worse.”

“How is she?” Raf asked.

“Terrible,” Lizzie said, “Can we please go to a hospital?”

“Yeah. You guys go ahead and let them know we’re coming,” Hope said, “I’ll stay with Josie and make sure she gets there safely.”

“What about strength in numbers?” Lizzie asked.

“If we split up, so will the hunters,” Rafael said, and Hope was surprised he was agreeing with her, “And I think Hope is Josie’s best bet right now.” Lizzie still seemed unsure, but she eventually agreed. She and Raf went ahead, leaving Hope with Josie.

“Come on, let’s get you to a hospital,” she said.

“It’s no use, Hope. I feel it killing me,” she said. She coughed out some more blood, and leaned back against the wall.

“Josie! Josie get up!” Hope yelled but Josie wasn’t moving. She saw the bullet in her side, “Josie, I’m gonna get this out, okay?” She got no answer. She pulled at the bullet, and with her strength was easily able to get it out. However, holding it burned her, “Ow!” The bullet clattered to the ground. She’d never seen a bullet like it before. Josie was still not waking up. She needed to heal. Hope used her wolf teeth and bit her arm, “Josie, please. You have to drink!” She propped her head up, and put her arm to Josie’s lips. The pungent smell of blood was enough to get Josie to open her eyes.

“What is that?” she asked wearily.

“Jo, you have to drink it,” she said. She wasn’t sure why she’d called her Jo instead of Josie, but she figured now wasn’t the time to think about that. All she knew now was this wasn’t how Josie was going to die.

“Why?”

“Just do it!” Hope said, trying not to yell. Josie reluctantly drank the blood that was offered, but it didn’t heal the bullet wound, “I don’t understand.”

“Why are you feeding me your blood?” she asked.

“I thought that it would help, but it’s not healing,” Hope said, looking at Josie’s wound. Then she put it together. That bullet had burned her and it was killing Josie. It was poisonous to witches. But a bullet made to stop magic, it had to be made with magic, “I have an idea.”

“And what would that be?”

“Siphon the wound. That should get rid of the poison from the bullet.” It had to be worth a shot. Josie put her hand on the bullet and siphoned the magic. At first, the wound was healing, but then the rest of her body convulsed in pain.

“Ah!” she screamed out.  _ Why wasn’t this working? _

“I don’t get it, the wound was healing,” Hope said. She bit her arm again, “Here, try some more of my blood, maybe it will work now.”

“Why would your blood have worked in the first place? Are you a vampire too?”

“No,” Hope lied, “It’s hybrid blood, it’s different sometimes.”

“Yeah, well it’s not different enough. I’m going to die, Hope. The pain isn’t going away. The least you can offer me is a shred of honesty with the  _ real _ reason you tried to heal me with your blood.”

“I told you everything I know,” Hope said. She felt so wrong lying to Josie, but her family's secret always came first to her. She sat against the wall and propped Josie on her knees, “I don’t know why you’re not healing.”

“I do,” Josie said, “That bullet messed with my magic. I didn’t have any while it was still inside me. The bullet might have been taken out, but its poison is still there. I’m dying.”

“I can’t accept that. A bullet that’s poisonous to magic has to be made with magic. There’s no reason for your siphoning to not work.”

“Well it didn’t, so I guess it’s time for you to leave me to die, then get out of here. You need to get to Lizzie and Raf and tell them there was nothing you could do.”

“I’m not leaving you behind.”

“I don’t care what you want. I care about my sister. And she could get hurt if she’s out there and more hunters come.”

“If I leave without you I can probably protect her from the hunters, but I won’t be able to protect her from the lifetime of pain she’ll have to endure without you, so I think I’m going to stay.”

“You’re so annoying, you know that?”

“Indeed.” Hope saw Josie’s hand, and realized the wound was going through the rest of her body from her hand. The hand that she’d used to siphon the wound, “Wait, I think I see what’s going on. You siphoned the magic from yourself, but instead of it giving you more power, it’s making you more sick because of the poison.”

“So I can siphon it, but I can’t get power from it?”

“Yeah, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless you put it in someone else.”

“The only other person here is you, that would get us nowhere.”

“Except I’m half wolf. Maybe this won’t have the full effect it’s having on you with me because I’m not completely a witch. Josie, I’m not taking no for an answer, I’m doing this.”

“I can’t let you.”

“Well I’m not asking. I’m doing.” Hope grabbed Josie’s arm and did the spell. Aunt Freya had taught it to her. It moved magic from one place to another.

“You can’t do this spell without a siphon witch!” Josie yelled.

“No, I can’t do it without the  _ power _ of a siphon witch. But with my hand on you, I’ve got it.” She continued the spell.

“Hope, please,” Josie begged. She couldn’t lose her, even if that meant she died. Hope continued the spell, and Josie was too weak to stop her, “Hope! Stop it! You’ll die!” Hope kept going, and soon Josie felt the pain dissipate as the poison went into Hope. Hope let go of her arm. She could feel it going inside of her. It hurt at first, but then it was gone. 

“See,” Hope told Josie, “I’m fine. And now so are you.” Hope was right, the pain was gone. Josie could stand again.

“Then let’s get out of here.”

With Josie now being able to stand, it hadn’t been hard for them to leave the building and go into the woods to follow Lizzie and Raf. The only problem was they had no clue where they were.

“This place is huge,” Josie said, “We’re never gonna find a way out.”

“I don’t believe that,” Hope said. She used her hearing to scan for voices. She could hear Mr. Facelli coming towards them in the woods, “Someone is coming. Hide!” The two girls hid up against a tree as their math teacher walked by. That was still so weird.

“Okay, we’re good. He’s gone, but if we stay here too long he’ll find us and he could shoot you again.” The two girls ran towards deeper into the woods. They thought they were in the clear, but they could hear the footsteps, “Come on hurry.” They kept running, and Hope wondered if she should do another spell, but she also thought that if she stopped, Josie could get hurt. They kept running, and just when Hope thought she saw a part where the woods ended, a sick voice went,

“This is the end of the line girls.” Standing in front of them was Martin Fell, gun in hand. Hope tried to do a spell, but Martin was faster than her. He fired the gun right at Josie, but Hope jumped in front of her, taking the silver bullet right to the heart.

“No!” Josie shouted. Martin was coming for her, so she took Hope’s hand, “Ignalusa!” The biggest fireball Josie could muster came out, and she shot it right at him. He screamed and fell to the ground. Josie grabbed Hope and ran with her away from him. They made it outside the woods and Josie realized she had no clue where they were. The outside of the woods was an area that Josie couldn’t really make out in the dark.

“Jo,” Hope said wearily.

“Everything is gonna be okay,” Josie said, “Just stay with me a little longer.” She held Hope close to her as she looked for a place to sit, “Hope, it’s the same bullet as before, you’re gonna be fine.”

“Except last time, I wasn’t shot through the heart,” Hope said. 

“Don’t say things like that. Let’s go, we’re not far enough,” Josie said. She picked Hope up again, and helped her up against a tree. Hope looked terrible, “Hope, come on, you gotta heal.”

“I’m not going to heal, Josie,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I lied. When I took the poison from you, I said it made me better, and it did. For like half a second. I’ve been in pain ever since we escaped, and I’m in worse pain now.”

“But you were walking. Not even walking, you were running!”

“I know. I put it off as much as I could, but there is nothing we can do now. All you need to know is that you don’t need to worry.”

“I don’t need to worry? Hope, you’re going to  _ die _ !”

“Yeah, I will. But not in the wa-” she trailed off. She began to cough up blood, mounds of blood.

“Hope. Hope!” Josie yelled. She grabbed the other girl and held her close. She moved her hand towards Hope to take the magic, but Hope slapped her hand away.

“Don’t,” she said weakly, “Please.”

“Hope, I can’t let you die.”

“It’s okay Josie,” she said, “I couldn’t let those hunters hurt you. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let them hurt you, and I keep my word.” She then laughed, “For the most part.”

“No,” Josie said. She could feel hot tears on her cheeks, they were dripping on Hope, who just smiled at her. How could she do this? Especially with how awful Josie had been to her, “I’m sorry, Hope. I’m so sorry.” Hope coughed again, and more blood came out.

“Jos,” she gasped out, “It’s, it’s gonna be-” she coughed again, and the blood got all over Josie, but she didn’t care. She cradled her head, and watched as Hope’s chest stopped convulsing, and the pain left her eyes. Her breathing stopped, and she lay limp on Josie’s lap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...that happened. Next chapter will show what happened to Hope...


	10. Apex Predator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie learns the truth about Hope's family when a surprising truth is revealed to her

Anyone who lived in Mystic Falls would have heard the scream Josie emitted as she stared at Hope Marshall’s dead body. Both girls were still covered in Hope’s blood, so it looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie. Josie shook her, praying that she’d wake up.

“Hope please wake up!” Josie cried out, “You can’t be dead. Please Hope, wake up.” Nothing happened, and nothing was going to happen. She was gone.

“Josette Saltzman,” a voice boomed. Josie looked up and saw Martin Fell staring her down. While his face was burned from Josie’s spell, he was still very much alive, and very ready to kill her. But Josie wasn’t scared. She was angry.

“You,” she said, “You did this!”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “Soon, the pain will all go away.” He held a gun up to her, but before he could pull the trigger, a rush of blonde zoomed past her.

“You’re right, it will go away,” Rebekah said as she snapped his neck. Martin Fell fell. Rebekah kicked at his body to make sure she was gone, and then she fixed her gaze on Josie.

“Miss Marshall?” Josie asked. She’d moved at a speed Josie had only ever seen once. In her mother. Her mother the vampire, “You’re a vampire.”

“Hope!” Rebekah said, ignoring Josie. She went to her niece and checked her pulse, “She’s not breathing. What’s happened?!”

“That guy shot her,” Josie said through her tears, “I did a spell on him and we ran, but we couldn’t make it far. I’m so sorry Miss Marshall.”

“My last name is not Marshall,” Rebekah said, “Which isn’t something I like for people to know, but considering what you’re about to see, it’s best you do.”

“What are you talking about?” Rebekah gently moved Hope’s body from Josie’s lap, and she picked her up, “Let’s talk somewhere safe.” Josie followed Rebekah to her car. She watched her place Hope in the trunk and close it. Josie, still shaking, sat with Rebekah in the front. Rebekah drove Josie to her house, and when they entered the garage, she said,

“What I am about to tell you can not leave this car, do you understand?”

“Yes, I do,” Josie said.

“My name isn’t Rebekah Marshall, it’s Rebekah Mikaelson. My brother Klaus is Hope’s father.” At first, Josie had no idea what she was talking about, but then it hit her. Klaus Mikaelson. The evil hybrid Klaus Mikaelson. Her Dad had told her stories about him when she was younger. How he terrorized his and everyone else’s lives in Mystic Falls. He was Hope’s Dad?

“So if she’s a Mikaelson, with a vampire for a Dad, then that makes her…”

“A witch, a werewolf,  _ and _ a vampire.”

“So what does that mean?”

“It means that her blood is vampire blood,” Rebekah said, getting out of the car. Josie followed her, and watched as Rebekah took Hope out from the trunk, “Can you get the door for me, love?”

“Um, yeah,” Josie said. She opened the door and followed her inside. The house looked different than it had when she’d come to run lines with Hope all those weeks ago. It looked homey, and there were pictures  _ everywhere _ . She saw Klaus and Hayley, then she saw Rebekah and a baby Hope. She saw Rebekah with her siblings, Hope, and a handsome looking man.

“That’s Marcel,” Rebekah said with a smile, “Here, you can wash your face with this.” She handed Josie a hot washcloth, “Do you know how one becomes a vampire?”

“They have to die with vampire blood in their system,” Josie said, wiping the cloth on her face. 

“Exactly,” Rebekah said.

“And as someone who is part vampire, Hope has vampire blood,” Josie said, “She tried to heal me with her blood while I was hurt. Her blood heals people, just like a vampire’s.”

“Very good Josie,” Rebekah said. Josie continued to dab at her face, liking the feeling of the hot water on her skin, and liking the distraction it gave her so she wouldn’t have to face the reality of what Rebekah was trying to tell her, “And since Hope  _ did _ die, you know what the means, yes?” Josie knew exactly what she meant, and her voice trembled as she said it,

“It means she’s going to come back. As a vampire.”

“A true tribrid,” Rebekah said, “She will have to feed when she wakes up, and I’d like you to not be here when she does. You’re a human, she could get hungry.”

“I want to see her,” Josie said.

“I’m not asking you,” she said. She opened the locked fridge and pulled out a blood bag, “I’m telling you to leave. I will let you know when you can see Hope again, but now isn’t the time.”

“Can I at least say goodbye?”

“You have one minute, then I’m telling you to go,” Rebekah said. Josie nodded and went upstairs to Hope’s room. She looked so peaceful, besides the fact that she was covered in blood. She was still very much dead, but Josie took comfort in the fact that she wouldn’t be for long.

“I’m so sorry I let this happen to you Hope,” she said, “I never wanted this for you. But I want you to know that I’m going to be here. And so will MG and Lizzie, maybe even Raf. We still need to figure out what he knows about you. But we can do that once you’re up and at it again. But the most important thing for you to know right now is that we’re all going to be here.” She knew Hope couldn’t hear her, but it didn’t matter, “You’re going to live a wonderful immortal life. You’re going to do so much, and have a ton of fun, I can feel it.” Josie stroked Hope’s face, “I hope you know how sorry I am for what I said and what I did. And I hope that maybe one day we can actually be friends.” Hope didn’t answer, but it wasn’t like she could, “Goodbye Hope.” Josie leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Then, almost like it was magic, Hope woke up. She was a mess. She was hyperventilating, and she was definitely confused, “Hope it’s okay. It’s me, it’s Josie. You’re gonna be okay.”

“Jo?” Hope asked. Josie nodded,

“It’s me,” she said, “Do you remember what happened?” The initial panic on Hope’s face seemed to be wearing off, and she now wore a cold expression.

“Yeah, I do,” Hope said, “And I’m really sorry.”

“Sorry? No Hope, you don’t have to be sorry, this was my fault, alright?”

“No, I’m sorry. You just look so delicious,” Hope said. Josie’s blood ran cold.

“Hope no!” Josie yelled, but Hope’s fangs came out and she sank her teeth into Josie’s throat. She yelled out in pain. Rebekah vamp sped in and ripped Hope away from her. Josie tumbled off the bed and felt her throat, which had blood pouring out of it.

“I told you to go!” Rebekah yelled at Josie angrily. It was terrifying. Josie had never seen anyone so angry before.

“I’m sorry, I just thought…” Josie said, but that was all she could get out when she looked at Hope. She had veins on her face, and blood all around her mouth.

“No, what did I do?” Hope asked as she started to register what she’d done. 

“It’s going to be alright sweetheart,” Rebekah said, “Just breathe, everything is gonna be okay.”

“No, get away!” Hope said, using her magic to throw Rebekah against a wall. Before either of them could stop her, she jumped out the window and went crashing down. Josie ran up and looked outside, only to see Hope running away.

“We have to go after her,” Josie said.

“No, I’m going after her. You need to go home and stay there,” Rebekah said. She bit into her vein and shoved her arm in Josie’s face, “Drink.”

“I don’t need-”

“I said drink!” Rebekah yelled. Josie drank Rebekah’s blood until her neck healed.

“Let me help you,” Josie said.

“I think you’ve done enough. Go home,” Rebekah said, but as she moved, Josie grabbed her arm and did a spell, giving Rebekah a pounding headache, “Josie!”

“You’re taking me with you. This was my fault, and I’m not giving up on her.”

“Alright! Let me go,” she said. Josie stopped the spell, and Rebekah said, “You’re a nasty little girl, anyone ever tell you that?”

“Surprisingly, no. Where do you think Hope went?”

“My guess is the family home in New Orleans. The drive is a few hours, so we better tell your Mother and Father that we’re going.”

“What do I say we’re doing?”

“You tell them the truth. I trust your parents.”

“Okay. Shall we?”

“We shall.” Rebekah drove Josie home, and said, “Your sister came to your house with a friend, and she was hysterical. She said you and Hope were supposed to join you in the hospital because you’d been shot, but you never showed up. They waited hours and nothing. So they came to your house, and she did a tracking spell. Your Mother stayed with her while I went to get the two of you, and now here we are.” So that explained how she found them. Josie had been meaning to ask.

“Well, as long as Lizzie is okay.” Lizzie and Hope were the only two people who mattered to her at the moment. Rebekah waited while she went inside, and the fact that she wasn't leaving was enough to tell Josie that she actually did want her to come.

“Mom? Dad? Lizzie?” Josie asked when she entered. She dropped the keys in the bowl by the front and went to the living room to see Lizzie on the couch with Raf. His jacket was wrapped around her and she was visibly shaking.

“Oh thank God,” Alaric said when he saw her. He wrapped her in a huge hug and said, “I was so worried. You weren’t answering your phone, and then Lizzie and Rafael came and said you were shot.”

“Yeah, they had us. But we escaped, and Rebekah came. She saved us.”

“She saved you? So that means you saw…” Josie nodded, “I’m just glad you’re okay What happened? What about the bullet wound? I need to check it in case it’s infected.” Caroline came to Josie and wrapped a blanket around her. She then sat on the couch with Lizzie and Rafael. Lizzie put an arm around her and Raf gave her a gentle smile.

“That isn’t necessary. They shot me with a bullet that was poisonous to witches. And then Hope used my power to do a siphon spell, where she took the poison and healed the wound. She said she was fine because she was part wolf, so we escaped, and then on the way out, Martin Fell shot her in the heart. I thought she’d be okay because she was before, but she hadn’t been okay. She just hadn’t wanted me to worry. She died not long after we escaped, and then Rebekah came to save us.”

“Josie-” Caroline said, but Josie couldn’t stop.

“And then, we took her home, where she woke up because apparently she’s also a vampire, and since I was in the room, she fed off me, then she jumped out a window and is possibly on her way to New Orleans, where I need to go with Rebekah.”

“Okay first of all, you’re hilarious if you think I’m letting you go to New Orleans with a Mikaelson vampire, and second, if Hope has triggered her vampire side, there’s no saying how dangerous she is right now. She could turn off her humanity, and become just as big of a monster of Klaus Mikaelson, and that is not someone I want you around,” Alaric said.

“Ric, just because Klaus made some questionable decisions doesn’t mean that Hope will do the same,” Caroline said, “But Josie I agree with your Father about you going. Hope needs her family right now, and I think Rebekah is better off going on her own. New Orleans can be a scary place for supernaturals and I can’t have you getting hurt.”

“Well I’m not asking,” Josie said.

“Excuse me?” Caroline asked.

“This is my fault. She died because she took a bullet meant for me. If there is any chance that I can help her, then I am taking it, whether you’re okay with it or not.”

“I can’t just let you go to New Orleans, Josette,” Alaric said, raising his voice a bit.

“Then I’ll go when you’re asleep. You can’t stop me.”

“You’re really not gonna stop, are you?” he asked.

“No, I won’t. But I’d definitely feel a lot better about going if you let me.” Before Alaric and Caroline could get into an argument with her, Lizzie came to Josie’s defense.

“You know, when Hope and I were going to look for Josie, I’d never seen her that scared. She cared about nothing more than finding her,” she said, “I think that if the key to controlling a new vampire is connecting to their humanity, then Josie is the best person to go.”

“Your mother and I need to discuss this. Just wait here,” Alaric said.

“I can still just leave,” Josie said.

“You can’t and you won’t,” Caroline said, raising her voice. She looked angry until she saw the pain in Josie’s eyes, so she calmed herself and said, “Just sit down. We’ll talk it through.”

“I’d hurry,” Josie said, “Rebekah is waiting for me outside.” Caroline nodded before following Alaric to the kitchen. After a few moments had passed, Josie turned to Lizzie and said, “Was that true? What you said about Hope?”

“Completely,” Lizzie said. Josie sat with her and Raf and said,

“Raf, earlier you said you didn’t know why you were turning into a wolf. I can answer that for you, but you have to be comfortable with telling me something.”

“Telling you what?” Raf asked. Josie opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off when she heard her Mom call for her from the kitchen, “Hold that thought.” She went to the kitchen where her parents were waiting for her.

“Okay, we’ve talked about this, and we think that you can go,” Alaric said, “But, you’re taking your school work with you. You don’t get to fall behind on any assignments, we clear?”

“Yes, crystal. Thank you Dad,” Josie said.

“I care about Hope, too,” he said, “Be safe out there, and call every day.”

“I will. I’m just gonna go tell Lizzie I’m leaving.”

“Wait, before you do,” Caroline said, “You’re kind of running on steam right now, all of us are, so I need to know. Are you okay?” Josie was confused. Now wasn’t the time to be asking that. She and Rebekah needed to go or they could miss Hope!

“I’m fine. Now’s not the time, I really need to get going.”

“Jos, you call me or Dad if you need anything, alright. What you just saw was really-”

“I said I'm fine!” Josie said, “Now can I please go pack? We’re losing Hope more and more by the second and there’s no knowing what she could be up to.” Caroline sighed and said,

“Okay, you can go.”

“Great,” Josie said. She went to her room and packed a bag full of essentials for the next week. On her way down, she saw Lizzie and Raf on the couch. Raf had his arm around her and seemed to be comforting her. She felt a lot better leaving knowing Lizzie would have a good friend on her side, “Liz, Raf. I’m heading out now.” Lizzie left Raf and gave her a hug.

“Call me if you need me, okay?” she said and Josie nodded,

“I will.” She looked at Raf and said, “We’ll talk when I get back. You don’t need to worry about anything. Everything will be fine, alright?” He nodded,

“Just take care of Hope, okay? And stay safe.” Josie nodded, and got a somewhat pleasant surprise when he gave her a hug goodbye. She went to the door, and was almost out when her father stopped her.

“Take the keys,” Alaric said, “You never know when you could need some magic.”

“Cool, thanks Dad,” Josie said. He gave her a hug goodbye and said,

“Be safe. I’ll see you soon.” 

"Yeah, I'll see you." Alaric was headed back to check on Lizzie when Josie said, "Dad?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"You used to talk to me about how Klaus Mikaelson was this big monster...was he really all bad?"

"Honestly, he wasn't. He loved Hope very much, his love for her being one of his most redeeming qualities," he said. 

"That's nice. Dad, were you ever going to tell me that she was a Mikaelson?"

"Probably not. And not because I take pleasure in keeping things from you, because I don't. But because that's what Rebekah and the rest of the family wanted. They all wanted Hope to have a normal life, and her best chance at that was by being Hope Marshall."

"I can understand that," Josie admitted, "Do you think that since Hope is a vampire now, she could be like him?" Alaric didn't answer her immediately, and the answer ended up coming from Caroline, who'd been listening to them.

"No. The problem with Klaus was that he felt like he had no one who loved him. Hope has her family, and she has you. She's going to be okay." Josie smiled at her Mom. Hope did have her, and she was going to make sure she knew that.

"I really need to go now guys, Rebekah might end up leaving without me," Josie said. Her parents said goodbye, and Josie joined Rebekah, who was putting on lipstick in the car.

“Took you long enough,” she said.

“Sorry. I’m fifteen, I had to get permission to leave.”

“Alright. So, you ready to see the Big Easy?”

“Hell yeah.” Rebekah turned on the radio, put the car in drive, and they were on their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like everyone is off to NOLA! Next chapter will see the return of a few familiar faces, how Hope is dealing with her new status, and Josie finally processing what she's been through...


	11. Catch Me I'm Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie make it to New Orleans

The jazz music that used to sound so calming to Hope was now blaring in her ears. She could hear about twice as far as she could when she’d just been a werewolf. And the hunger was still there. She felt like she was being tortured. A man asked if she was okay, and all she wanted was to rip his face off!

“Hey kid, you alright?” he asked again.

“I’m fine. Can, can you just go?”

“You don’t look fine,” he said. That was probably because her blood and Josie’s was still all over her, “Can you calm down? I can call for help?”

“I said, I’m fine!” Hope shouted, with her fangs coming out. The guy tried to run, but she grabbed him and fed. She couldn’t stop herself. He yelled out in pain. Just when she thought that she was about to kill him, strong hands grabbed at her and tossed her to the side. From the ground, she could hear a familiar voice saying,

“Forget what happened here today. You got bitten by an animal. Go to the hospital and get it checked out.” The man walked away, “You’ve gotten yourself in some trouble, huh kid?”

“Hey Marcel,” Hope said.

“Hey kiddo,” he said, helping her up. He looked great in comparison to her, who was now covered in her blood, Josie’s blood, and some random man’s blood.

“I guess you can figure out what’s happened since we last saw each other.”

“I can. But what are you doing here? You know it isn’t safe. Where’s Rebekah?”

“Probably on her way here. I ran away after I completed my transition. I fed on a girl from school. Marcel, I can’t control it.”

“Let’s get you home, we can get you out of these clothes,” Marcel said, putting an arm around her. They were quick on their way back to the compound, and when they got inside, he said, “Your Aunt Freya should be home soon, and I think Keelin is around if you want to say hi.”

“I think I should avoid both of them. They’re human,” Hope said.

“They’re a witch and a werewolf, they can protect themselves,” Marcel said.

“I think I’d just like to take a shower,” she said.

“Absolutely, you remember where your room is, right?”

“Yeah, I remember,” she said. She went to her room and was surprised to see it just how she’d left it when she’d moved to Mystic Falls a year ago. Her paints were still out, and her unfinished painting of her family was still on the easel. Maybe she’d finish it while she was here. She looked through her closet for some clothes, and took her shower. She tried not to gag at how quickly the water turned red from all the blood. She could see it all. Josie screaming in pain, the man from the gas station whose car she’d stolen since she wasn’t going to make it on a bus, and that man from the alley who’d just wanted to help. She’d hurt all of them. She scrubbed intensely at the blood. She needed all of it to be gone. She was in the shower for the better part of an hour until she finally felt clean. She got out and dried herself off before sliding into the dress she’d picked out. It had been her mother’s. She smelled the fabric, and could still smell her distinct smell. She wished she was here, she’d know what to do. She always did.

“Hope?” she heard Marcel ask from the door, “You doing okay?”

“No,” she said, “I’m not okay at all.”

“That’s fine,” he said, walking over to her, “Everything is going to be okay, you did the right thing coming to me. But since you’re a hybrid, I need to know. Who else did you feed on besides that man?”  _ Why did being a hybrid matter? _

“A guy at the gas station. I took his car. I think I killed him, I lost all control,” Hope said through forming tears, “And my friend Josie, but she was fine.”

“You bit her?” he asked in alarm. Hope nodded,

“Where is she right now?”

“At home in Mystic Falls. Marcel, what’s wrong?”

“Your bite isn’t just a vampire bite, there’s werewolf toxin in it too. The guy you just bit was okay because I gave him my blood, but your friend Josie…”

“Did I kill her?”

“Not yet, but it’s possible that she could be dying,” Marcel said, “What’s her number?”

“I don’t know, but maybe Rebekah will know. You could call her.”

“Okay. Stay here, don’t move. I’ll be right back.” Hope nodded. Marcel pulled his phone out and dialed Rebekah’s number. She picked up and asked,

“Marcel?”   


“Bekah, Hope is here, and she’s triggered her vampire side.”

“Believe me, I’m aware. We’re on our way to New Orleans now.”

“Great, that’s great. Wait, who is we?”

“I’m with a friend of her’s, Josie. We just got to Alabama, we should be there in a few hours.”

“Wait you’re with Josie now? How is she?”

“She’s fine. She’s asleep. Why do you care?”

“Because Hope bit her, and her bite has werewolf toxin in it. Are you sure she’s asleep? Can you check if she’s breathing?”

“Yes, she’s breathing. I gave her my blood and the wound healed.”

“That might work for a bit, but it won’t for long,” he said, “Get here as fast as you can so I can give her some of my blood. If she dies, Hope might not forgive herself.”

“I’ll do my best,” Rebekah said. Marcel hung up the phone, and he went back to Hope to tell her that Josie was on her way, only to see her room empty with the window wide open.

“Dammit,” he said.

Rebekah swerved into the Quarter when she got there. She was in a hurry. Josie’s wound had reopened and she was now hacking up blood.

“Stay calm sweetheart, we’re almost there,” she told her. She pulled the car towards the Mikaelson compound and said, “Come on, let’s get you inside.” She helped Josie out, and took her inside, where Freya was.

“Rebekah?” she asked, “What’s going on?”

“Hope bit her, she’s sick,” Rebekah said, putting her down, “Where is Marcel? He said he would be here to give her his blood.”

“I’ve got the vial here, get her on the couch,” Freya said. Rebekah helped Josie on the couch and shook her awake. Josie’s eyes opened for a second and she asked,

“Where are we?”

“Never mind that, drink this,” Rebekah said, handing her the vial. Josie drank the blood, and the wound started to heal. Rebekah breathed a sigh of relief. Josie woke up and said,

“I’m really not having a good day.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, where’s Hope?”

“Marcel took her upstairs to cool off, but she snuck out. He went off to find her but they’ve both been gone for hours. I’m Freya,” she told Josie.

“I’m Josie Saltzman,” she said.

“Saltzman? I know you, you’re one of those special siphon witches. You know you could have just used your powers to take care of the bite, right?”

“No. But I do now,” she said, and Rebekah had to laugh, “It’s not funny.”

“No, you’re right. It’s not. You should rest now, I’ll go look for Hope.”

“I want to go with you,” Josie said.

“All due respect, but Hope can’t hurt me or Marcel, so it’ll be best if we just go. You can stay here with Freya, you’ll be safe.”

“But I can siphon the bite.”

“It’s too risky. She could feed on you until you’re dead,” Rebekah said, “Now please just stay here. We’ll bring her back safe.”

“Okay,” Josie said, “I’ll stay.” Rebekah left to go find Marcel, and when she and Freya were alone, Freya asked,

“Would you like to help me make a potion?”

Marcel had found Hope hours ago, and instead of being angry at her for running off, he decided that the most productive thing to do would be to help her.

“If you’re not going to drink from blood bags, we get to do the simplest thing in the vampire books. Snatch, eat, erase. Though in our case, it’s snatch, eat, erase, give them our blood.”

“We’ve gotta find a word to sum that up.”

“Yeah, we’ll get there,” he said, and Hope laughed. Probably the first laugh she’d had since she’d woken up like this, “Here, let me demonstrate.” Marcel walked over to a man who was sitting by himself. Hope followed him and watched him grab him.

“Now, there are two parts of snatch.” Marcel looked in the man’s eyes and said, “Don’t be scared. And don’t scream.” The man went silent, “Now we go to eat.” Marcel’s fangs came out and he bit into the man’s neck. Hope’s mouth nearly watered at the smell. Marcel finished drinking, then bit his arm, letting the man feed off of it, “And now, we get to erase.” Once the wound healed, Marcel looked at the man and said, “You won’t remember any of this. Walk away, and go about your day.” The man left, and Marcel turned to Hope, “See? Easy right?”

“Yeah, easy,” Hope said, but she wasn’t so sure. Marcel noticed this and said, 

“You know, the best thing about being a hybrid is that you don’t feel the same hunger that a normal vampire does. You won’t need to feed often, but you’ll still need to. And Rebekah will have blood bags, so you don’t have to feed off humans. This is always the last resort. Understand?”

“I understand,” Hope said. 

“Good, now it’s your turn. Come on,” Marcel led Hope down a dark path, and they approached a woman, “Compulsion is simple. Look her in the eyes, and say what you need to.” Hope nodded and walked up to the woman. She put her hand on her shoulder, looked her in the eyes and said,

“Relax. Don’t say a word. Everything is fine, you’re not scared.”

“I’m not scared,” the woman repeated back to her. Marcel gave Hope an encouraging nod. She let her fangs out and sank them into the woman’s neck. The blood entered her mouth, and she drank it all up. It was so good.

“Alright Hope, that’s good,” Marcel said, but Hope ignored him. She wanted more, and it wasn’t like the woman was fighting her. She kept drinking, “Hope, I said enough!” Marcel went to pull her away from the woman, but she could easily knock him away. This blood was making her stronger. However, right as she was about to completely drain the woman, she was stuck with something. Soon her vision clouded, and she was knocked out cold.

Josie was cleaning up in Freya’s workspace when Rebekah came into the room to ask her how she was doing. Josie immediately asked about Hope.

“Hope is fine, she’s in her room,” Rebekah said.

“Can I go see her?”

“Not right now,” Rebekah said, “Thank you for helping my sister with that potion. You may have saved a woman’s life today.”

“I don’t understand. If she’s fine, why can’t I see her?” Josie asked, ignoring anything Rebekah had just said. All of her thoughts were completely focused on Hope.

“Josie, you need to calm down, take a breath,” Rebekah said. She placed her hands on Josie’s arms in an attempt to calm her, but all that did was cause Josie to siphon off of her. Josie knew it hurt, because Rebekah jumped away.

“I am calm,” Josie said, but she knew she was lying, and so did Rebekah. A breath caught in her throat and she could feel tears threatening to fall, “I uh, I just need…” she couldn’t get the words out. Her hands were trembling, and her body felt cold. What was happening?

“Josie?” Rebekah asked. Josie walked herself back against the wall. This was the first time in the past few days that she wasn’t running around doing one thing or the other, and it sucked. She needed to be kept busy, otherwise the thoughts just came back. Hope in her arms, with no life in her body. Martin Fell’s terrifying eyes staring them down as he fired the bullet. She could feel herself heating up. She couldn’t catch her breath. The room around her felt like it was slipping away. She felt a more gentle set of hands on her, and she looked up and saw Freya, giving her an understanding look.

“It’s okay Josie. You’re okay, just breathe.” She ran a hand on Josie’s back. Josie tried to get out that she was fine, but she couldn’t. Tears were streaming down her face. Silent tears. She couldn’t even open her mouth to cry. She felt sick, like her whole body was closing in on her.

“I, I-” she managed after a few moments.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Freya said. She held Josie close to her, something she wasn’t expecting, “You don’t have to be fine, okay? Just let it out. Let it all out.” Josie barely knew this woman, but the tone of her voice showed how much she cared. She allowed herself to cry on her shoulder, and Freya held her tighter. She cried ugly tears until she was worn out again. 

“He shot her,” she got out, “He killed her. She was dead!” 

“I know,” Rebekah said, leaning to sit with the other two women. She placed a hand on Josie’s shoulder, “But she’s going to be okay. You have to believe that.” Josie continued to cry, and it wasn’t long before her breathing became hard again, “Hey hey. It’s just what you said, right? She’s going to live a good immortal life. She’s going to have you in it, all of that will happen.” Josie shook her head. Freya held her close and said,

“Sweetie, that was really good of you to say. Hope is going to be okay because she has you. Remember that, hold on to that.” None of that helped. Josie began to cough violently, which she worried was due to the poison from the bite. But no blood came out. In fact, nothing did. She had no clue what was going on with her. She could feel Freya moving her in a sitting position. She was against the wall now, and breathing hard, laborious breaths. Freya made eye contact with her and said, “Hey, here’s what we’re going to do. Count with me. Count how many fingers I’m holding up.”

“What?” Josie asked.

“Trust me,” Freya said, “How many fingers?” She had one finger up.

“O-one,” Josie got out. She raised another finger, “Two.” Another. “Three,” Josie gasped out after another spasm hit her. Freya made her keep counting. Four, five, six. It was a little nice to focus on the fingers instead of Hope. She felt her focus shift, “Seven,” she said with more clarity as Freya raised her next finger, “It’s seven.”

“Yeah, seven,” Freya said, “It’s seven.” Josie nodded, and finally took a breath that didn’t hurt.

“Seven,” she repeated, “Seven.” She took a few more breaths, and then opened her eyes to see the concerned faces of Freya and Rebekah, “It’s okay. I’m okay.” 

When Hope finally came to, she was in her bed in the compound. She could still taste the blood in her mouth, yet she still wanted more. She could see the sun had set, and it was dark in the city. She could hear the music from outside as the people danced on the streets. She went to her window and opened it to look, but when she leaned out, she was pushed back by magic. She touched the outside. She could feel the forcefield. She was spelled inside.

“Aunt Rebekah!” She called. She heard her Aunt’s footsteps as she came to the door.

“What is it, sweetheart?” she asked. She didn’t come inside the room.

“Why am I spelled in here?”

“Hope, you can’t control yourself. Until we’re sure you can’t hurt anybody, we need to keep you in here,” she told her. 

“I’m fine, it’s not like I killed her.”

“You didn’t kill her because I knocked you out right in time with a potion from Freya. But you were close. You’re my responsibility, and if you hurt someone or yourself, I feel like that’s on me.” The two of them were quiet after that until Hope asked,

“Is Josie okay?”

“She’s fine. She’s healing well.”

“I’d like to see her.”

“The last time you saw her, you bit her and left her for dead. I know that’s harsh, but it’s the truth. It’s not safe for you to be with her right now.”

“Please, I need her.” Hope didn’t know why, but she really needed to see Josie. What she didn’t know was that Rebekah really wasn’t letting Josie come because she knew that she’d take the barrier down, and that wasn’t what Hope needed right now. She needed some time by herself to cool off.

“You can’t see her right now, I’m sorry,” Rebekah said.

“Please, don’t leave me here by myself.”

“I’m here Hope, I’m not going to leave,” she said.

“But you’re not going to come in. You’re afraid of me,” Hope said sadly.

“I would never be afraid of you. I love you,” Rebekah said, “But part of being a vampire means having control. You lose control, you get isolation. This will only last for as long as you want it to. I’ll be right down the hall, and I’ll come if you need me, but I can’t let you leave until I’m sure you aren’t going to hurt anybody.”

“I’m hungry, I want blood.”

“I’ll bring you a blood bag.”

“I don’t want a  _ freaking _ blood bag!” Hope shouted at her Aunt. She’d never shouted at Rebekah before, and she instantly felt terrible, “Aunt Rebekah, I’m so sorry.”

“You can be angry at me all you like, Hope,” she said, “But it doesn’t change anything. I’ll always protect you, whether you’d like me to or not.” She left Hope in the room, and for the first time since she’d gotten there, Hope finally allowed herself to cry. Josie, who’d finally been able to collect herself, had left Freya’s workspace. She could hear Hope’s cries from down the hall. They were loud, ugly cries of someone who was in deep pain. She sounded just like Lizzie did after she had one of her moments. It was Josie’s least favorite sound in the world. She was going to go to Hope until she heard her door shut. She probably didn’t want visitors.

“Are you okay?” someone asked. Josie turned and saw Hope’s Aunt Freya. The two of them had had fun today. Freya showed her the Mikaelson grimoires, and she taught her how to do some advanced spells that even Aunt Bonnie didn’t know. She felt embarrassed over her episode earlier, but Freya had been there for her. She felt like she could trust her.

“No, I’m not,” she said, “I did this. Hope wouldn’t have died if it hadn’t been for me. He raised that gun, and he was aiming at me.”

“Josie, if that gun had shot you then you would be dead. There would be no coming back, you would just be dead. But Hope has a second chance here, and yeah, she’s going to struggle, just like all new vampires do. But she gets to live, and have a life. The same couldn’t have been said for you.”

“Thanks, but that doesn’t make me feel any less guilty.” She turned to leave, but Freya stopped her,

“Hey, don’t do that. Hope is going to need you right now, and if you start wallowing in survivor's guilt, you won’t be able to offer her that support. And it’s not going to do either of you any good. So just take a breath and relax. Hope will be okay, she just needs some time.”

“She’s really going to be okay?”

“Don’t lose faith Josie, it never does anyone any good,” Freya said, giving Josie a comfortable squeeze on the shoulder, “And listen, about earlier-”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m so sorry. I overreacted, and that wasn’t cool. I shouldn’t have acted that way, I don’t know what came over me.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to say. Everything that happened was an extremely normal reaction. I just wanted to say that I’m here for you. You need anything, come get me. Okay?”

“Really?” Josie asked. Freya nodded,

“You’re a good friend, Josie, and I can tell you’re really strong. But don’t think for a second that you shouldn’t be putting your own emotions first for once. If you’re not feeling okay, say something. We all just want to help you.”

“That’s really nice, thank you,” Josie said. Freya nodded and gave Josie a hug, a nice hug. She then left to go get something to eat, telling Josie the kitchen was stocked if she wanted anything. She declined due to being pretty tired. Josie said goodnight to Freya and went into the room she had been given to stay, and finally changed out of her bloody, now snotty clothes. She went into the bathroom and washed it all off. She could still see Hope’s dying body in her lap. She willed the water to wash the memory away, but it didn’t. So she looked at her fingers. She counted. One, two, three, four, five. She took a breath between each number. The memory didn’t leave, but she was able to calm herself down enough to get out of the shower and changed into her pajamas. Her phone started to ring. It was her Mom. She answered, “Hey Mom, what’s up?”

“Hi sweetie,” she said, “How is it going? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, they’ve set me up with a nice living area here, and Dad said he would send me my school work, I have my computer.”

“That’s good, but I just want to know how you’re doing? What you went through was…” She wanted to tell her Mom she was fine, but that wasn’t true, so she said, 

“Honestly, I’ve been doing my best to cope. With what happened to Hope and what I saw, it’s been a little hard to get past.”

“Sweetie that’s totally fine. Nobody is going to ask you to just get past this. I’m not gonna lie, it’ll take some time, but I’m here for you, okay? We all are.”

“Thanks Mom. But right now, I’m more worried about Hope than me.”

“How is Hope?”

“Not that great,” Josie said, moving to sit on the bed, “This whole full tribrid thing hasn’t been that easy for her. Freya bound her to her room, she’s been having some control issues.”

“Oh, I remember what that was like. She’s just scared, Jo. Give her some time. She’s never going to be the Hope she was before, but one day, she could be better.”

“That just doesn’t seem possible right now,” Josie said.

“Like I said, give her some time, she’ll be okay,” Caroline said, “Look, your sister needs some help with some homework, so I gotta go, but get some sleep, alright? I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

“I will. I love you, Mom.”

“Love you too. Goodnight sweetie,” she said. Josie hung up the phone, and laid back on the bed in an attempt to fall asleep. It was comfortable, but she just couldn’t sleep. She got out of bed and decided to just walk around the house until she got tired. She was walking down the stairs when she heard voices from the living room. Well, at least that’s what she thought it was. It was a big empty room in the middle of the house, with a few couches and a whole fountain. Rebekah was there with Marcel, who Josie had met when he’d returned with Hope. Rebekah looked upset, and Marcel was comforting her.

“I just think that for once in my life, I’m not completely sure what to do,” she was saying.

“Rebekah, she’s fine. She’ll sleep for the night, then we’ll work out a plan in the morning. You’re being too hard on yourself.”

“No, I’m not. I messed up. I took my eyes off her for a second, and her and her friend were almost killed...Hope  _ was _ killed! Hayley never wanted this for her. She wanted her to grow old, maybe have a family, fall in love.”

“Well what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. The only way we could reverse it would be to get the cure from Damon, but if we take it from him, he’ll die.”

“We don’t have to reverse it, we just need to help her live like this.”

“But she doesn’t want this.”

“Maybe not, but neither did you, and you’ve done great.”

“I’ve murdered thousands of people. I don’t want Hope to hurt even one.”

“Well she’s already a wolf, so we crossed that bridge a long time ago.”

“You are really bad at trying to cheer me up, you know?” Rebekah asked him, and Josie worried that she was angry, until she saw that a small smile had formed on her face, “I feel bad for locking her in there. I know I’m supposed to be harsh, but I just want her to know I care.”

“She knows,” Marcel said. He then turned to where Josie had been hiding and said, “I know you’re there, Saltzman! Get out of here, it’s late.” Josie’s face reddened.

“Sorry!” she called out. She hoped they weren’t upset at her for eavesdropping. Her Mom would always tell her it was rude, but she could hear them laughing. Josie was actually getting tired, so she was heading back into her room when she saw Hope’s at the end of the hall. The door was now opened a crack. It gave Josie an idea. She went into her room and grabbed a blanket and pillow. She knocked on Hope’s door. It took a second for the girl to open the door. She looked like she’d just finished crying, her eyes were red. An untouched blood bag was on a trunk by her bed. Josie guessed that Rebekah had given her something to eat, but she hadn’t felt up to it. Hope looked like she had when Josie had come to her house in Mystic Falls, except her hair was out this time.

“What are you doing here?” Hope asked.

“I thought that we could talk,” Josie said.

“Well, we’re gonna have to talk here,” Hope said, reaching her arm out to touch the space between them, showing off the binding spell.

“I can break that, you know. I can siphon the magic away.”

“Considering all that has happened today, I’d rather you didn’t,” Hope said. Josie nodded before arranging her pillow and blankets on the floor by the door, “What are you doing?”

“I thought we could have a sleepover. Haven’t you had one before?”

“No, I haven’t,” Hope said dismissively. Josie ignored her and settled herself on the ground,

“You didn’t have any sleeping bags, so I made do with this.”  
“Can you please go?”

“Nah, I’m good. I know you feel alone, and like nobody cares, but I care. I always have, even though I had the most shitty way of showing it, so I’m staying.”

“You are so frustrating, you know that?”

“I’ve been told,” Josie said. Hope rolled her eyes and said,

“Well, I’m gonna be in my bed, far away from you.” She got under her covers and heard,

“Fine by me. You should take some of that blood. I was doing some research when I was with your Aunt Freya. Newbie vamps shouldn’t go to bed hungry.”

“Shut up,” Hope said, even though Josie’s concern made her kind of happy. After a few minutes, Hope could hear Josie’s breaths slow as she slept. She looked up from her bed and saw Josie asleep on the floor outside of her room. She had half a mind to slam the door shut, and was on her way to do just that, until she saw the blood bag on the trunk. She picked it up, and slurped a small amount of blood. It tasted good, but not as good as the direct feeding. It wasn’t as fresh. She still finished the bag, and threw it in her trash. She wiped her mouth when she was finished, and returned to her bed. She actually did feel a little better after drinking the blood, not that she would let Josie know that. She looked so peaceful, sleeping on the ground. Hope got under her covers, but she couldn’t sleep. She could hear Josie breathing. She sounded calm. Maybe she was having a good dream. Even thought she kept telling herself she wouldn’t do it, she eventually got out of the bed, and took her own pillow and blanket to the door. She laid it out, and got comfortable next to Josie. She could see in the dark, even better than before, and she could see a piece of hair in Josie’s mouth. She reached out to move it, but the spell stopped her. Though she didn’t have enough power to break Freya’s spell, she could still do her own. She murmured a small spell, and moved the hair. That was better.

“Just to be clear, this  _ isn’t _ a sleepover,” Hope said as she got comfortable. Though the ground was nowhere near as comfortable as her head, Josie being there made it nice. It wasn’t long before she eventually drifted to sleep. When Rebekah went back to Hope’s room to check on her, she was surprised to see both girls asleep on opposite sides of the door. She smiled and said,

“Goodnight darlings.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie are definitely getting closer. Next chapter will be focused on our peeps back in Mystic Falls, but Hope and Josie's adventures in New Orleans aren't over just yet...


	12. The World According to Lizzie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter from Lizzie's perspective, featuring a bit of Hosie near the end :)

It had been a week since Josie had left with Hope’s Aunt on a trip to New Orleans, and Lizzie was losing her mind trying to do this play without her. Josie’s understudy hadn’t been learning any of the lines, and with Hope gone, the set production was falling behind. And opening night was a little over a month away. This was the worst time for the council to attack them!

However, she was glad to have Rafael with her. They’d definitely gotten closer since the attack, and he was always checking in on her, which she didn’t mind one bit. And she had to admit, knowing that he was a werewolf made him even hotter. If only he could tell her what had triggered the curse. Anytime she even tried to ask, he just said he wanted to wait for Josie to come back. Why did Josie being there even matter? Lizzie was his friend too, she could help him.

“Something on your mind?” she heard someone ask. Lizzie turned and saw MG staring at her from his spot on the scaffolding.

“Just trying to figure out how to run this number without Josie,” Lizzie said.

“I feel you. Hope was the heights girl,” MG said, “I’m terrified up here.”

“You’re a vampire, won’t you be fine if you fall?” Lizzie asked.

“I mean probably. It’s an old childhood fear,” he said, “I fell out of a tree when I was six and broke my arm. I uh, I can’t be in high spaces for too long.”

“Then just come down,” Lizzie said, “This practice is going nowhere anyway.” MG came down from the scaffolding and said,

“You seem upset. What’s going on?”

“I’m fine,” Lizzie said, “I just think it’s time to call it quits for the day.” She went to her post where she’d been choreographing the dance, “Everybody go home! We’ll try the dance again tomorrow. And Clara, learn your lines. We don’t know when Josie is going to be back.” The kids in the play left except MG and Rafael. MG went to his friend and asked,

“Hey. Talk to me. What happened with you and Josie last week? You weren’t in school, Josie and Hope have been gone. You can trust me, you know that.”

“I’m back now,” Lizzie said, “And Josie and Hope will be back eventually. That’s all that matters.” She kind of wondered why she wasn’t just telling MG. He was a vampire, if anything he’d be able to help. But after Josie had left, Lizzie’s Mom had made it very clear that everything that had happened was to stay between anyone involved. And Rafael had been doing a good job at keeping the secret, so Lizzie owed it to everyone to do the same, “Just go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’m here. Remember that, okay?” he said. Lizzie nodded. She watched MG say goodbye to Rafael. She expected him to just follow MG out, but instead he walked over to Lizzie.  _ Oh God, why is he coming over here? _ She still felt jittery around him. She had ever since that night when they’d spent hours at the hospital waiting for Hope and Josie. He’d barely said a word to her before then, but that night he’d never left her side. It made her excited, but still pretty nervous.

“Hey Lizzie,” he said, “I heard you talking to MG. I thought I’d check in.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, “It’s nice being able to talk to someone about what happened. Hiding this secret has not been easy for me.”

“I feel that. Anytime I hear anyone talking about Hope and Josie I just wanna tell them. I assume that must be a lot harder for you, right?”

“You have no idea. It’s kinda hard to sell the family emergency excuse when I’m still here, but it’s all we’ve got. Plus stupid Clara is out here trying to steal Josie’s role, which I can’t let happen.”

“She’s not gonna take the role, Hope and Josie will be back before you know it.”

“What if they don’t come back?” Lizzie asked, “I’ve never been apart from Josie for a day, and now it’s been a whole week. She hasn’t said a thing about when she plans on coming back. And like we talk every day and stuff which is great, but I need to see her. So I’ve been thinking, maybe I go to New Orleans and check in, but my parents don’t think it’s safe for me to be around Hope. But Josie is fine, so I should be okay, right?”

“Josie is fine because, like you said, she’s the best bet at getting through to Hope’s humanity. Right now we just gotta let them do their thing, no distractions. Because the faster Hope starts feeling better, the faster they’ll be back. And Clara can be knocked off her high horse.” Lizzie laughed,

“Yeah, that’s something I’d love to see,” she said, “I should probably be getting home. My Mom is on edge, she doesn’t like when I’m out too late.”

“I’ll walk you,” he said.

“You don’t have to.”

“I want to. Plus, it’ll make your Mom feel better knowing you weren’t alone.”

“Yeah you’re right. I’ll get my stuff,” Lizzie said. She grabbed her backpack from where she’d left it and slung it over her shoulder. Rafael held the door for her on her way out of the auditorium. The walk back to Lizzie’s house was a little awkward. They didn’t say much, but Lizzie was glad to have Rafael with her. They got the house and Lizzie was reaching for her keys when the door opened, Caroline answering. She had a smile on her face when she said,

“I saw you coming from my window, so I thought I’d just get the door. You can come in too if you’d like, Rafael.”

“That’s okay, I should get going, but I’ll see you tomorrow Lizzie.” He gave her a comforting rub on her shoulder. Caroline offered to drive him home, but he said, “I’ll be okay, it’s not that far.” He said goodbye to the two women, and Caroline closed the door behind Lizzie.

“What a nice boy,” she said, “Tell him he’s welcome over anytime, alright? With some of the council still out there, I worry for his safety.”

“I’ll let him know,” Lizzie said, “But we have the cops circling our houses, right? Those guys will protect us.” Caroline nodded,

“They’re good cops, Matt picked them out himself. But they don’t have the weapons that those guys have. It’s always good to remain cautious.”

“Yeah I get that. Has Josie called?”

“Not today, but she should later. What do you want for dinner, I can make something or we could go out?” Lizzie shrugged and said,

“I’m not that hungry. And I’ve got homework so I’d better head up.” She left her Mom to go to her room, but Caroline took her hand and said,

“Hey, don’t shut me out. Tell me, what’s going on? Are you still feeling scared because of what happened? If that’s the case, you can stay with me tomorrow. You don’t have to go to school.”

“No, I’m fine. I can go to school,” Lizzie said, “I just really want to talk to Josie.”

“She’ll call,” Caroline said, “How about you and I watch a movie? When was the last time we had just you and me time? I feel like I’ve barely seen you the last couple of days.”  
“I guess that would be fun,” Lizzie admitted.

“Perfect, you pick something out. I have to make a call, I’ll be right back.” Caroline went upstairs, and when Lizzie was flipping through the DVD book, her phone rang. She picked up without checking to see who it was.

“Josie?” she asked. Her face fell when MG answered, “Oh hey. What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask if you wanted to get dinner with me,” he said.

“Oh my Mom and I are watching a movie,” she said.  _ And Josie is gonna call soon _ . She couldn’t leave until Josie called her.

“Oh that’s cool. If you change your mind I’ll be at the grill around eight,” he said. 

“Cool,” she said. She hung up the phone and chose the first rom com she found. She didn’t feel like watching something she’d get too invested in. Her Mom came back as she was popping it in.

“What’d you pick?” Caroline aked.

“The Proposal,” Lizzie said. It was old, but she liked it.

“Nice nice,” Caroline said, “Who were you on the phone with just now? Rafael?”

“MG actually,” Lizzie said.

“Oh, what did he want?”

“Nothing, he just asked if I wanted to go get dinner with him. But we had plans, so…”

“Lizzie, you can go get dinner,” she said, “We can hang out a different time. Tomorrow, even. I can get my keys and drive you if you’d like.”

“No, I have to stay. Josie could call,” Lizzie said.

“Aww baby, is that what this is about? Look, if Josie calls and you miss it I’ll just tell her to call your cell. You don’t need to worry about missing it,” she said. Josie still didn’t have her own phone so there was no way of Lizzie being able to call her, but her Mom was right. Josie could always just call Lizzie’s cell. But she still didn’t want to leave.

“No, I need to be here when she calls, I can’t miss it.” If she missed Josie’s call, then Josie would thinks she was abandoning her. And Josie was all she had, she couldn’t lose her. She picked up the remote to start the movie, her hands shaking as she heald the remote. Caroline noticed this because she said,

“Hey. Just calm down sweetie.” She placed a hand on Lizzie’s shoulder, and Lizzie could feel herself siphoning the magic. She breathed heavily, and the lights in the house flickered, “Lizzie, just breathe. You’re okay, everything is okay.”

“I need to be with her,” Lizzie said, “I need you to take me to her!” As she yelled, her magic got stronger. The lamp and the TV shattered. Caroline removed her arm from Lizzie’s shoulder, knowing that giving her magic wasn’t helping her. She got on her level.

“Look at me, sweetie.” Lizzie shook her head, burying her head in her knees, “Josie and Hope went through a lot, and they need to take the time they need to get back to where they once were, and that means they’ve gotta be gone for a bit. But look, just because they’re gone, doesn’t mean that you need to put your life on hold. You’ve got your friends, you have me and your Dad. We’re all here for you. No matter what, you hear me?” Lizzie kept her head in her knees, so Caroline put her hand on Lizzie’s chin and turned her to face her, “Do you hear me?” It took a second, but Lizzie eventually nodded,

“I hear you,” she said, “I’m so sorry.”

“No, you’ve got nothing to apologize for,” she said, giving Lizzie a kiss on the head. Lizzie stared at the TV and said,

“Oh crap.” Caroline laughed and said,

“I’ll get it fixed, don’t worry about it. Though that does make movie night a problem, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess. But um, if the offer still stands, I would like to meet MG.”

“Get your coat on, I’ll drive.” Caroline drove Lizzie to the grill, and she said, “I’ll pick you up at ten. Have fun. I’ll let you know if Josie calls, okay?”

“Thanks Mom,” Lizzie said. She gave her a hug goodbye and went in. It was only when she’d gotten inside that she remembered she’d forgotten to tell MG she was coming. She could see MG sitting at a booth, Rafael sitting across from him. She hadn’t even known they were friends. She was about to leave since MG had clearly made other plans when he saw her and waved her over.

“Hey Lizzie, come join us!” he called. Lizzie smiled and walked over to them. She sat across from MG and next to Rafael, “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Yeah. Sorry I never texted you, I must have forgotten.”

“It’s all good, I’m glad you’re here. Raf and I actually just ran into each other and thought we would eat together.”

“Oh cool,” Lizzie said, “Have you ordered yet?”

“Nah,” Rafael said, “MG was holding out hope that you’d join us.”

“Man, don’t expose me like that,” MG said, while Rafael and Lizzie laughed. They ordered their food, and when they were finished, Rafael asked,

“So, did you talk to Josie?”

“Not yet, but we can talk when I get home,” she said. No matter where she was, Josie would call her. She believed that, and now she just wanted to have a nice night with her friends. He nodded and said,

“Look, MG and I, we did get to talking, and uh, I told him what happened.”

“You did what?” Lizzie asked.

“I could tell earlier that it was stressing you out,” he said, “I didn’t want you to continue to feel like that.” MG nodded and said,

“Yeah, and you know I won’t tell a soul. I just wish I’d known earlier, I could tell this was killing you.” Lizzie blushed and said,

“C’mon, I wasn’t that obvious.”

“You were a little obvious,” MG said, “So...Hope?”

“I say honestly that I still don’t know the whole story with what’s going on there. Josie does, and she’ll probably fill me in when she gets home, but for now I don’t know. I think she’s a vampire right now? But she was a witch and a werewolf before, so I just don’t get it. And like, I still don’t know if she is now. Josie hasn’t been very forthcoming with that information. She said a name though. Mikaelson.”

“Never heard of it,” MG admitted.

“Me neither,” Rafael said.

“I have. In stories as a kid, none of them good. But if Josie was willing to go on a trip with them, they can’t be that bad. I trust Josie’s judgement. I just want them both to be okay, you know? I’ve done some things recently that I’m not too proud of, I’ve even roped Josie in on some of it, and now I just hope that one day they both can forgive me.”

“Well don’t be so hard on yourself, Josie didn’t have to say yes, remember that,” MG said.

“Maybe,” Lizzie said, “But what if they don’t come back. What if Hope goes crazy and kills them both, or what if she decides to go out into the world and become a ripper for all eternity-”

“That’s not going to happen,” Rafael said, “Stop worrying all the time. Just do what I do when I get upset. Think about the good outcomes.”

“Yeah yeah,” MG said, “Like Hope and Josie will come back with a million dollars after Hope compels someone to help them win the lottery.”

“Or they became international rock stars who started a band, and they plan on taking a world tour,” Rafael joked.

“You guys are ridiculous,” Lizzie said, “But yeah, that does make me feel better. Thank you.”

“We’re a crew,” MG said, “We stick together. We’ve got your back with anything.” Rafael gave her an assuring smile that made Lizzie believe them. Right when the food came, Lizzie’s phone rang. She recognized the New Orleans area code.

“It’s Josie!” she said happily.

“Put her on speaker,” MG said. The three of them thanked the waitress while Lizzie put the phone on speaker. After Josie answered, Lizzie said,

“Hey sis! I’m at the grill with Raf and MG, what are you up to?”

“Oh hey guys,” Josie said in between laughs, “Hope and I discovered her Uncle Kol’s secret stash of weed. I am so glad that all supernaturals can get high.”

“Rebekah is gonna  _ kill _ us,” Lizzie heard Hope say in the background, but she sounded just as giggly as Josie. They sounded like they were having fun. A stark contrast to two days ago when Josie had called exhausted because Hope had been having some more control problems, “What are those guys up to?” Josie answered Hope after a moment of more laughs.

“Oh, they’re at the grill,” she said.

“Oh how I would  _ kill _ for one of those grilled cheeses. Do we have stuff for grilled cheese in the kitchen?” Hope asked.

“Ooh, I think Freya just went shopping, I can check,” Josie said.  _ Damn, Josie was really making herself at home over there. _ Lizzie didn’t even know who Freya was, “Hey, how are you guys? How has practice been going?”

“Oh, Lizzie is about to rip into Clara,” MG said. Lizzie scoffed and went,

“Am not! I just think she needs to actually do what she’s supposed to, or we’re going to have a problem, that’s all.” MG, Raf, Hope, and Josie all laughed, Hope and Josie more than the boys. Lizzie had a feeling that was more the weed talking.

“Dude, don’t even worry about it. I have almost all my lines completely memorized,” Josie said. Then she giggled, “Hope, that painting on the wall is laughing at me.”

“Lucky! I think it’s frowning at me,” Hope said.

“Y’all should see Hope, she’s straight up pouting,” Josie said.

“Am not!”   


“Are too!” Josie said. MG, Lizzie, and Rafael all exchanged glances as they imagined Hope and Josie in New Orleans, high as kites. A voice in the background of the call started asking the two girls what they were doing and Josie went, “No, we’re getting separated.”

“You can’t stop our love!” they heard Hope say as the woman, who Lizzie recognized as Hope’s Aunt Rebekah told Josie to go to her room while confiscating the pot from Hope.

“Goodnight Elizabeth,” Rebekah said into the phone, as she walked with Josie.

“Can we make grilled cheese?” Josie asked.

“I want grilled cheese!” Hope said in the background of the call.

“Tomorrow,” Rebekah said.

“Yessss,” Josie pretty much hissed out. MG could barely contain his laughter.

“Bye sis!” Josie said, “Ove you.” Lizzie held in her laugh at Josie forgetting the “L” and said,

“Love you too.” She hung up the phone, and she and the boys burst into laughter.

“They were so lit!” MG said.

“You can’t stop our love!” Rafael imitated in a high pitched voice. Lizzie was doubling over with laughter at this point.

“Yeah, I get why she called my cell first instead of our home phone,” she said. She then took a breath and said, “Oh, you guys were so right. I think the two of them are gonna be just fine. And so will I.” The rest of the dinner had been great. They’d eaten their food and then gone out for ice cream. And the next few days were great. Lizzie made plans with the boys, and she would call Josie at night. Practices were going a lot better, and Josie said Hope was helping her run her songs and lines so she wasn’t falling too behind. Lizzie also explained that MG was now in the loop, and Josie was very understanding. Plus, things were going great with Hope. Josie even said they’d be able to come home soon. But, just when things seemed too good to be true, everything changed. Lizzie came home to see her Mom and Dad looking panicked, “What’s going on?”

“It’s Hope and Josie,” her Dad said, “We just got off the phone with Rebekah. They’ve been missing since last night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked a chapter from Lizzie's point of view! Next chapter will go back to New Orleans and explain why Hope and Josie left and what they're currently up to...


	13. Bad Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter goes back a little bit to explain what happened to Hope and Josie...

_ Twenty Four Hours _ Ago

Josie had spent nearly every night in New Orleans sleeping on the floor by Hope’s door, and while it did no favors for her back, she was having a good time. They would talk well into the night, Josie would watch Hope paint, Hope showed her how she drank from blood bags, and she’d help her run her lines and songs, and when she wasn’t with Hope, Josie would play chess with Marcel, or do spells with Freya. She was really enjoying herself. She was glad Hope was no longer locked in her room. It had taken ten days, but she was finally out and about. She was doing better, but not well enough for Rebekah to take her back home. She now spent most of her time with Marcel, learning how to feed from others. Josie wished Hope could spend some time with her, going out into the city to show her the sights. She would like a tour guide who she actually knew. But she also knew that could wait. Hope’s mental state was what mattered the most right now, and she was doing her best. They just had to wait. Currently, Josie was sitting at a coffee shop, eating a beignet with her drink and writing everything in a journal. It was Day 12 of however many. Anytime there was a change in Hope’s condition, Josie would write it down. Maybe when Hope was feeling better, she’d show it to her. 

“Josette, it’s good to see you out and about,” Freya said when she saw her.

“Hey Freya,” Josie said, “I was going a little stir crazy, so I thought I’d get some air. How’s Hope?” Freya smiled and said,

“She’s back at the house, painting. I think it might be a portrait of you.” Josie turned away from Freya so she wouldn’t see her blush. Freya sat down and said, “She’s been asking about you. She got back with Marcel and was wondering where you were.”

“Oh, I thought they would be out for longer. I can head back.”

“No no, finish your food. It’s a beautiful day. Plus, Hope does her best work when she’s alone and I bet she wants this one to be perfect.”

“Oh,” was all Josie could say. Freya smiled at her and said,

“So, I was talking with Rebekah. She thinks that Hope might be ready to go home soon.”

“Really?”   


“Indeed. She’s been successfully feeding. She’s only lost control once in the past two days and has corrected herself. Plus, she’s spent nearly every night with you and hasn’t ripped your throat out, or even tried.” Josie laughed and said,

“Hey, that’s growth.”

“Exactly,” Freya said, “I think she plans on giving her a test either tonight or tomorrow, then you and Hope should be getting back home. I’m sure you must miss it.”

“I do, but I am enjoying myself here,” she said.

“That’s good to hear, but Hope can’t be here for long. If the factions find out that Hope is home, it’ll bring up a lot of drama, especially if they know she’s a vampire now.”

“I understand. Hope has explained some of it to me, but not in too much depth.”

“A lot of it is stuff she doesn’t understand. But that’s okay, she shouldn’t have to worry about it. She’ll be back in Mystic Falls soon, and everything should go back to a somewhat normal.”

“That’s good. Normal’s good,” Josie said. She took another sip of her coffee. Freya looked at the journal still open on the table and asked,

“What have you been writing in there?”

“I’ve just been chronicling my time here,” Josie said, “I thought that once Hope was feeling better, she’d read it and be happy knowing she gave me a good time here.”

“That’s a sweet thought,” Freya said, “I need to run, Keelin is waiting for me to have lunch. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“See ya,” Josie said. Freya left and she continued to write in her journal. Back at the house, Hope was doing her finishing touches on her painting of Josie. She took a sip from her blood bag as she painted her deep brown eyes. She hoped Josie would like it. Being in New Orleans really was doing wonders for her painting. She hadn’t been this focused in a long time. She took another sip, only to see that the bag was empty. Damn, Aunt Rebekah had just gone out. She’d have to wait a bit for the next one. She decided to turn her attention to the painting. It was Josie as her character in the play. She hadn’t seen her in the costume yet, but she’d looked up pictures of the character, and was doing her best. She worked on the painting until the sun slowly dipped from the sky.

“Knock knock,” she heard as she was adding the finishing touches to her hair. Hope turned and saw Rebekah with a blood bag in hand, “Thought you’d be hungry.”

“Yes, thank you,” she said, “Toss it to me, I’m feeling bold.” Hope usually didn’t catch things when they were thrown at her, but being a vampire made her better. Rebekah tossed the bag inside, and she caught it, “Nice catch sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. She pulled the straw out with her teeth and sipped it up.

“What are you painting?” Rebekah asked. 

“It’s nothing,” Hope said, glad Rebekah didn’t come in and look.

“Alright, keep your secrets. So I was thinking, why don’t we head back to Mystic Falls on Sunday?” Hope frowned.

“But it’s Friday, that’s in two days,” Hope said. Rebekah nodded and went,

“And I think you’re ready. In a bit, you and Marcel can go into town, and if you don’t lose control, I think it’s safe to say that we can go home.”

“I get to go home?” Hope asked. Rebekah nodded, and Hope smiled, “This is awesome! Thank you so much, Aunt Rebekah!”

“Don’t thank me. I know this time hasn’t been the most fun, but you’ve handled it with grace. You deserve this, I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you,” Hope said.

“Again, don’t thank me,” she told her.

“Yeah yeah, my bad, is Josie around?” Hope asked.

“She’s playing chess with Marcel. You can join her if you’d like” Rebekah said. Hope nodded excitedly. Once Rebekah left, she changed out of her painting clothes into something nice. She then took her hair out of her ponytail and tried to style it nicely before she saw Josie. She finished her blood bag and went downstairs to be with everyone. She could see Josie sitting in a chair across from Marcel. They were both locked in a game of chess. She’d just captured Marcel’s queen. She had that game in the bag.

“Ouch big bro, I think you might be about to lose your winning streak,” Hope said, coming into the room and sitting next to Josie.

“Hey you, I was wondering where you were,” Josie said while Marcel attempted to make a move that would delay his inevitable checkmate.

“You know me, I’m always around,” Hope said. 

“Yeah, I do. You know, Freya said you were working on a special painting.” Hope blushed,

“I’m always painting,” she said. Josie laughed and asked,

“Do I get to see this painting?”

“Maybe,” Hope said, and Josie smiled. She couldn’t wait to see it. She turned her attention back to the game, where Marcel had just moved his rook to capture Josie’s bishop, but that opened her queen to steal his king.

“I win,” she said triumphantly.

“One could say that I let you win,” Marcel said.

“Yeah, and I could say that I won and I did, so,” Josie said, knocking his king off the board.

“Alright alright, good game Saltzman.”

“You too,” she said. Hope helped the two of them clean up the game, and when they were finished, Marcel said,

“So I’m guessing Rebekah talked to you.”

“She did. She thinks we can go home on Sunday,” Hope said.

“Freya said something similar,” Josie said, “How do you feel about that?” Both Josie and Marcel were staring at her intently, and Hope answered the best she could.

“I feel ready, and I really want to go home,” Hope said.

“I’ll test you tomorrow and we’ll see,” he said, “Right now I need to go meet somebody in town. Will you two be okay here by yourselves? Freya and Keelin should be back in about an hour, Rebekah in two. There’s food in the kitchen and Rebekah left a blood bag.”

“We’ll be fine,” Hope said, “Right Josie?” Josie nodded.

“Perfect, I’ll see you guys in a bit.” He left and Hope said,

“So, we’ve got the place to ourselves.”

“Yep,” Josie said, “We should throw a party.”

“Oh yeah totally. I’ll invite all my friends I don’t have.”

“And I’ll play my music from my phone that’s smashed somewhere in the middle of the woods in Mystic Falls.” Hope laughed and said,

“Sounds like the perfect rager.”

“Hell yeah,” Josie said, “But in all seriousness, what should we do?”

“We could watch a movie or make a grilled cheese,” Hope suggested.

“Or we could go out and you could show me some of your favorite places in town,” Josie said.

“We shouldn’t,” Hope said, “I don’t want anything to happen before the test tomorrow, and I really do want to go home on Sunday. I’m sure you do too.”

“I do, but if we air too much on the safe side, then we could be overestimating how ready you actually are. I think that if you can survive a night alone with just me, that’s better proof. Right?” Hope couldn’t disagree. She was right.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Hope said, “I just ate so I shouldn’t even be that hungry. For blood anyway.” She could really use some normal food, though.

“Great,” Josie said, “I’ll get my coat and be right back.” While Josie was gone, Hope put her boots on. She was finishing lacing them when Josie returned, “Ready?”

“Yep,” Hope said, “Let’s bounce.” Josie slid into some sneakers and followed Hope out of the house, “Have you gone to Rousseau's yet? It was my favorite place to go to as a kid. My Mom never let me drink the fun stuff of course, but they had the best food.”

“No, I haven’t yet. How do we get in? It says they card.”

“They won’t for me, consider me your admission ticket to anywhere you wanna go in the French Quarter,” Hope said. She looped her arm around Josie’s and took her inside the bar.

“Hope, hey. It’s good to see you,” the man behind the counter said. He had a thick Irish accent and he wore a warm smile, “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you around here so soon.”

“It’s only temporary,” Hope said, “Josie, this is Declan. Declan, this is Josie.”

“Good to meet you, Josie. What are we having tonight?” he asked them.

“Grilled cheese,” Hope said, “Oh and some beignets. With extra sugar on top.”

“You’ve got it,” Declan said. He walked into the kitchen and Josie hopped up next to Hope in the empty barstool next to her.

“I’ve never sat in a bar before. This is exciting,” Josie said, twirling in the stool.

“I know, right,” Hope said, “The first time is the best. These chairs are so fun!” She spun in hers, and they both took turns spinning until they were dizzy. 

“So what’s next tonight?” Josie asked, “I’m ready to see it all.”

“Well, I was thinking we’d eat, then we’d check out Jackson Square. The art and music scene there is top tier, you’ll love it. Then if you’re up for it, I could take you to the bayou. That’s where my Mom’s pack is. You could even meet some of them if you’d like.”

“I’d love that,” Josie said, glad Hope was willing to open up to her more about her family. Declan came back, though without the food.

“Hope,” he said.

“Yeah?” Hope asked, drumming her fingers against the counter, “What’s up?”

“Your brother is outside looking for you,” he said. Hope sighed and went,

“Busted. I’ll go talk to him and convince him to let us hang. Worst case, he’ll insist he comes with us. I’ll be right back,” Hope said.

“Cool cool,” Josie said. She smiled as she watched Hope skip away. She turned to Declan and said, “She’s pretty cool, right?” Declan didn’t say anything. He just walked away. _Weird_. Josie ignored his weirdness and played with one of the napkins on the bar. Meanwhile, Hope had just exited and was looking around for Marcel.  
“Marcel? Marcel are you here?” she asked. She didn’t see him anywhere, “Marcel!” _Where the hell was he?_ She saw a payphone a few steps away, and she had some money in her pocket that she’d brought to pay for dinner, so she walked over and put the quarter in. She dialed Marcel’s number and waited for him to pick up.

“Hello? Who is this?” she heard him ask.

“It’s Hope. Where are you? Declan said you were looking for me.”

“I’m out, like I told you I’d be. And what are you doing with Declan? I thought I told you I wanted you to stay at the house.”

“Technically you never said that explicitly. Plus, since Josie and I are going home soon, I thought I’d show her around town. Please Marcel? I’m honestly fine, I haven’t even been close to losing control ever since I left the house.”

“Hope, that’s great, but it isn’t safe for you to be out without me or one of your Aunts, you know that. Take Josie and get back to the compound where you’ll both be safe.”

“But why would Declan tell me you were waiting for me?”

“He was probably just confused, honey. He probably saw someone who looked like me.”

“But he said-”

“Hope, I’m serious, go home. I’m not gonna ask again.” Hope refrained from rolling her eyes.  _ Why wasn’t he listening to her? _

“Fine, we’re going,” Hope said, hanging up the phone and slamming it back into place. She took a second to collect herself before going back to Josie. She opened the door to the bar and went back to the chairs she and Josie had been in, “Hey I think Declan made a mistake, Marcel wasn-” she started, but stopped when she saw that the stool Josie had been in was empty, “Josie?” Declan came back from the kitchen, looked at Hope and said,

“Hey kiddo, I didn’t know you were in town.” Hope frowned,

“Declan, we just saw each other. My friend and I ordered food, then you said that Marcel was outside looking for me. Remember?” Declan gave her a blank stare before smiling and saying,

“Hey kiddo, I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Declan! What is wrong with y-” Hope began to ask, until she realized what was going on, “Oh my God. You’ve been compelled.”

“Hey kiddo, I didn’t kn-”

“Stop that!” Hope exclaimed. She was about to ask him for his phone so she could call Marcel and tell him about Josie when she noticed something written on a napkin. She picked it up and asked,

“Declan, where is this?” He looked at it and said,

“Oh, that’s a little place in Kansas. That’s a few hours from here.”

“Is there a bus?” Hope asked.

“Yes indeed. Leaves in about ten minutes.” Hope guessed whoever had compelled him had allowed him to give her information.

“Thanks Declan,” she said. His face went blank and he went,

“Hey kiddo, I didn’t know you were in town.”

“Yeah, okay,” Hope said. She grabbed the napkin and left the bar, leaving a tip for Declan for his trouble. She didn’t have time to go home and tell her family where she was going. Not if she wanted to make it to that bus in time. Plus, it wasn’t like she could tell them anyway. She got to the bus stop in time, and once she took her seat, she looked at the napkin she was holding. The address was written on the top, and under it, in the scary familiar handwriting, it said

“We have your friend. Come here and come alone, or we kill her.” It was blunt, but effective. She traced her hands over the note, the writing almost haunting her. The curves in the e’s, the slightly slanted l’s. Perfectly matching the wavy handwriting of one Roman Sienna. Hope crumpled the napkin in her hands. She wasn’t sure what to expect once she got to Kansas, but she knew one thing for sure. Roman was going to pay for hurting Josie, and this time, Hope wasn’t going to hold back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Roman is involved in Hope and Josie's disappearance! There will be more to come with that next chapter, as well as an explanation as to why Marcel was acting the way he did on the phone...


	14. Down the Hole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope goes to Kansas to find Josie, plus the return of a familiar face

When the bus arrived in Kansas early the next morning, Hope got off and realized that she was starving. She could feel the need for blood rising up inside of her. She’d been able to keep cool in the bus, mostly because she’d slept, but now she couldn’t. She’d just gone hours without blood, she hadn’t done that once since the transition. She looked around, trying to find a good target. There were the people on the bus, but there were too many of them. She clenched her fists to her side.  _ Breathe Hope, just breathe _ , she told herself. She left the crowd and went inside to ask for directions to the address on the napkin. She’d find food on the way there. 

She was told that the address was about a three mile walk. Three miles wasn’t bad. But she knew she needed food. She was walking down the street towards the address when she saw just what she was looking for. A hospital. This was a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it was filled with blood bags, and a curse because there would be people with injuries inside. But if she was going to get Josie back, she’d need to be at full strength.  _ For Josie _ , she told herself as she entered the hospital. Almost immediately, a man bleeding from the mouth was rolled past her. She could smell it, and she could feel the veins in her face coming out. This was so bad, so very very bad. 

“You can do this Hope,” she said, “For Josie.” She took a breath and looked around for the signs to the blood bank. Her senses were going insane, and she could feel her mouth starting to salivate. She wiped it away with her hand, hoping no one saw. She kept her eyes peeled for a sign or anything that showed where the blood bank was. She got an answer when she saw a nurse walk past her, rolling a cart with two blood bags on it into a room down the hall. Hope cautiously followed her, making sure to keep a distance so the nurse didn’t think she was a stalker, or asking a question. If the nurse tried to talk to her, nothing was stopping Hope from attempting to rip her throat out. She waited for the nurse to go in and leave, and once she was gone she went inside. 

There was a ton of blood to choose from, but she was in a rush, so she picked the first bag she saw. She felt bad, people probably needed this for surgery, but Josie was in trouble. She was Hope’s top priority. She finished the bag and took two more. She then deposited the three bags in the trash and wiped her face. She slipped out of the blood bank and left the hospital. She felt a lot better. She could smell blood around her from the patients, but now that she was fed, she didn’t want it as badly as before. She continued towards the address, picking up the pace as she walked. She didn’t really had much of a handle on her vampire speed, but she knew her stamina, so her walk soon turned into a run. She continued to run until she was on the address written on the napkin. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket to confirm. It matched, so she walked towards the house. She could feel a small amount of panic on her body. The last time she’d been at a house like this, her Mother had been killed. She remembered Roman’s smiling face as he led her to the door, and then the betrayal that had come over her when he’d put those shackles on. Hope could feel chills as she went to the door. She tried to look through the windows for any sight of Josie, but nothing was there.

Hope kept her eyes and ears peeled for any movement or sound, but nothing. She checked the address again. It matched perfectly. Maybe Roman had a witch who’d done a cloaking spell? That had to be it, right? Hope was getting a little desperate, so she moved her hand to knock on the door, only to watch it open up. Totally not creepy at all. She went forward to enter, only to be pushed back by some kind of barrier. There was a spell on the door, but maybe Hope could undo it. She tried some of the spells she’d learned from Freya, but none of them worked. Why did none of them work? Hope was sure whichever witch that Roman had found could not be stronger than someone who was part witch, part werewolf, part vampire. But that was when she realized. Vampire. She wasn’t locked out from a barrier spell, she was locked out because she needed to be invited in.

“Dammit!” Hope yelled, kicking the barrier. Now what was she going to do? She stormed off the porch in an attempt to find another way in, when she realized that the porch was hollow. Her porch at home felt a lot more steady, but this one almost felt like she was walking on air. She’d been so worried about Josie when she’d gotten to the house that she hadn’t even realized. She thumped the porch again with her foot, producing the same echo. Hope kept one foot balanced on the step, while using her other to slam down on the porch as hard as she could. She wood from the porch instantly broke, and Hope looked down, seeing what looked like the hole from Alice in Wonderland. She used her wolf eyes to look into the dark, and she could see concrete down there. Josie wasn’t in the house, she was under it.

“I guess we’re going down the hole,” Hope said. She kicked a bit more of the wood away, and held in her scream as she jumped in, tumbling into the darkness below. She hit the ground on her hands and feet, glad those werewolf instincts had kicked in last minute. Once she was there, she brushed some dirt off of her pants and fixed an untied lace on her boot. She then pulled herself up and looked at her surroundings. She was in kind of a hallway, and the only way to go was forward. She walked slowly and carefully, making sure no one was going to jump out at her. She continued to walk, desperate to hear Josie’s voice, or to smell the vanilla perfume she’d sprayed on herself before they’d gone out. Ugh, they never should have gone out. They should have stayed at the compound and ate grilled cheese. If they had, they’d be at home with Hope’s family instead of in a hold under a creepy house. She wanted to call out for Josie, but that wasn’t wise. Someone could hear. She continued to walk until she got so bored that she began counting her steps. Her counting was stopped when she heard a rustling to her left. Hope turned and saw that there was a turn in the hall. She could keep going forward, or she could take it. She couldn’t hear anything forward, so she knew that was the safest route, but she had a feeling the safest route wasn’t one that was going to get her to Josie.

“Please be here, Jo,” Hope murmured, taking a right. Down this hallway, she could hear water dripping from pipes. Maybe it was the house’s irrigation system. The dripping got louder as she went forward, and Hope could feel her skin crawl. She still didn’t see Josie, but she could hear the rustling. She hoped it was her, but she was getting a little nervous. She was considering turning around when she smelled the sweet sweet scent of vanilla perfume, “Josie!” Hope’s survival instincts pretty much went out the door as she broke into a run. She got closer and the smell grew stronger, but Hope was met with a rude awakening as she saw a light. A candle was lit in the middle of the hall. Vanilla scented, just like Josie’s perfume. It was a trap! 

Hope was about to turn around, but she knew her presence was known. She could hear the sounds of footsteps all around. The weird thing was that the dripping stopped. It had been there, then it just stopped. But suddenly, the dripping sound turned into hissing, and water was shot at her. At least, Hope thought it was water. But she could smell the familiar plant. Vervain. She screeched in pain as the vervain filled water drenched her from head to toe, slowly singeing her jacket and pants. She fell to the ground, and could hear footsteps coming closer. She looked up and saw somebody, and could hear the click of a gun.  _ Oh hell no _ . Hope slid her fangs out, got up, despite the pain, and lunged at her attacker, burying her fangs in his throat. She thought she had the upper hand until a bad taste entered her mouth. Not just a bad one, a burning on. She fell off the man and onto the ground, coughing up the blood.  _ Wolfsbane! _ He must have injected it into himself. These people were prepared for her. The vervain water was still coming full force, and combined with the wolfsbane, it made her weak.

“Where’s Josie!” she spat at the man standing on top of her. Was it Roman? No, it couldn’t have been. He wasn’t being affected by the vervain. Hope’s vision was clouding. The man came closer to her, and she recognized the cold, beady eyes of Mr. Facelli.

“It’s okay Hope,” came his steely voice, “You won’t have to worry about her for much longer.” He clicked his gun again. Hope could see the familiar silver bullet that had taken her life the first time. It wouldn’t work again, she knew that. But that didn’t stop it from hurting like hell as he shot it into her shoulder, with her screams being drown out by the sound of the vervain water pouring down.

Hope had gone unconscious soon after being shot, and she’d been having a lot more fun then. When she opened her eyes, she was on the ground. She wasn’t sure which ground, but it was the ground, and it was cold. The bullet was burning and the vervain water was still on her skin. It felt like little pricks poking her over and over.

“Ow,” she said. Her voice alerted someone else, because she soon heard the voice that she’d been waiting to hear for hours,

“Hope?” Hope turned and saw Josie sitting against the wall. She wasn’t hurt, and luckily she hadn’t been shot, but she was chained against the wall. She couldn’t escape.

“Josie, are you okay?” Hope asked.

“I’m fine, just a little disoriented. I can’t really see here, and these cuffs took away my magic,” she said, “I tried siphoning them off but these are a trap. They’re made from magic but they take away magic powers. Pretty rude, right?”

“Totally,” Hope said, “And we can forget about my magic because good old Mr. Facelli shot me down with our least favorite bullet.”

“Damn,” Josie said, “Hope are you okay?”

“I’m gonna be fine, we gotta get you out of here,” Hope said, “Josie did you see a vampire with blonde curly hair? His name is Roman. He compelled Declan then took you, I think.”

“So that’s who that was,” Josie said, “He said he was a friend of yours, and we talked for a bit. He kinda lured me into a false sense of security, and once I was comfortable enough, he knocked me out. When I came to, I was here. Where are we?”

“Kansas. Under a house,” Hope said. She could see Josie’s eyes widen.

“Kansas?”

“Uh huh. I couldn’t get into the house because I wasn’t invited in, but I saw that the porch was hollow, so I broke it, came down here, and I was doing okay, then I fell for one of stupid Facelli’s traps and got vervained, wolfsbaned, and shot. I’m not having a good day.”

“Oh Lord Hope, I’m so sorry,” Josie said, “What are we gonna do?”

“We are gonna get you out of those chains, then we’re gonna find Roman, I’m gonna kill Roman, then we’re gonna use magic to get us out of here.”

“You’re not going to kill Roman,” Josie said.

“Oh trust me, I am,” Hope said. Roman may not have killed her mother, but he was directly responsible in hurting Josie. For that he would pay.

“Let’s focus on the main problem at hand,” Josie said, “They obviously kidnapped me to get to you. Why would they do that?”

“Roman’s family has a grudge against the so called impure. I thought I got rid of them all, but I guess there are still some around. My Dad called them the bigoted undead. They don’t like anybody who isn’t a pure vampire. People like me and Marcel.”

“But they can’t kill you, right?”

“To be honest, I don’t know what kills me. But yeah, you’re right. They can’t. It’s making me wonder why I’m here in the first place.”

“You know, being a vampire is magic, right?” Josie asked.

“Indeed,” Hope said, “My grandmother wrote the spell.” She could sense that Josie was getting nervous, “Josie? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that I’m a siphoner witch. Siphoner witches can take magic. And right now, that magic is the only thing keeping you alive.” Hope realized what Josie was getting at and her face paled,

“They took you so they could use you to kill me,” she slowly got out.

“I could be wrong,” Josie said.

“No, I don’t think you are,” Hope said. She pulled herself up against the wall, “I need to get this bullet out of me, then I can get those chains off of you.”

“Hope, pace yourself and don’t panic. I don’t care what they do, I’m not going to kill you,” Josie said. Hope nodded and said,

“I know you wouldn’t do it willingly, but my guess is that it’s not going to be your choice.” Hope reached for the bullet, but it was in there pretty deep, “Dammit!”

“What’s going on?” Josie asked.

“I can’t get it, it’s in there too deep. Can you help?” Josie nodded. Hope could see her in the dark, so she crawled over to her, only to be blocked by a barrier, “Barrier spell. That’s just great.”

“I’d siphon it away, but…” Josie lifted up the cuffs.

“Yeah yeah,” Hope said, “Okay, new plan. We wait for someone to come in here, we hope they let their guard down, we jump them, and get out.”

“Jump better not mean kill Hope Mikaelson,” Josie said.

“Jump means whatever it takes to keep you safe,” Hope said. She looked at Josie. She wore a scared expression, but she still had a sparkle in her eyes. She could handle this. They both could.

Josie watched Hope on the ground, struggling with the bullet on her shoulder. She wanted nothing more than to walk over to her and take that pain for herself. But she couldn’t. She felt helpless. She was surprised with Hope’s resilience. She could tell that she was in a lot of pain. She then noticed Hope stiffen. Not from pain, but from fear.

“What is it?” Josie asked.

“Somebody is coming,” Hope said. Josie didn’t hear anything, but she figured Hope could with her super hearing. A few seconds passed before Josie could hear the footsteps too. She was scared. She and Hope didn’t even have a real plan. Hope noticed this because she whispered,

“Jo, calm down. Look, they can’t kill me unless they take your cuffs off, and when they’re off, that’s when we attack.” Josie nodded. Attack, she could do that. She had to be able to do that. The door opened and Roman walked in, flicking a light on. He didn’t look that menacing, but if the last couple of weeks had taught her anything, it was that looks could be deceiving. Roman walked over to her without saying a word and pulled her to her feet. Now that she could actually see Hope, Josie saw her eyes narrow and fill with anger as she attempted to pull herself to her feet. Josie could tell she wanted to get Roman away from her as soon as possible. His grip on her was strong, and he soon took both of her arms and held them close to him. Without her magic, she couldn’t get him off of her. He was too strong.

“Get the hell off of her,” Hope said from the ground.

“Or what,” Roman said, speaking for the first time. Josie could tell he was trying to act strong, but that even he was a little afraid of Hope, “What are you gonna do from down there?”

“Why don’t you come over here and find out, coward?” Hope asked. Josie shook her head at her. Hope was in no state to take on a vampire right now. While he couldn’t kill her, he could hurt her. And Josie didn’t want Hope to be in any more pain.

“You have to understand, I never wanted any of this to happen,” he said.

“You say that a lot,” Hope said, “And yet, here we are.”

“Well last time we fought, you were right, Hope,” he said, “Your Mother was dead, and I was partly to blame. But now you are.”

“For what?” Hope asked.

“Are you being serious?” Roman asked, his anger growing. His grip on Josie became stronger, and she held in a scared whimper, “You know what you did!” Josie hated the way he spoke to her. And the anger was trumping the fear.

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Josie yelled at him. She felt his nails dig into her arms. It hurt, but she could handle it. He glowered at Hope and said,

“You let your family kill my sister!” he shouted at her. Josie was shocked, and looked at Hope for proof that it wasn’t true. The confused look on Hope’s face gave her some relief.

“I don’t even know your sister!” Hope yelled at him.

“Except you do!” Roman roared, pulling Josie with him as he walked over to Hope. Josie could feel herself about to hyperventilate. She tried to count. One..Two...One. She attempted to take a breath but couldn’t do it. This wasn’t working. Roman threw her on the floor, “Your Aunt Rebekah tracked him down, and then your brother killed her. For you!”

“They would never do that!” Hope yelled, but even Josie could see the uncertainty in her tone. But Josie knew Rebekah and Marcel. They were dangerous, but they wouldn’t kill someone for no reason, and Hope would never ask them to do that.

“Oh but they did. And now they get to know how it feels,” Roman said. He grabbed Josie off the ground, and she cried out. She’d never been this scared before, not even when she and Raf had been kidnapped. Because this time it wasn’t her life that was in danger. It was Hope’s, “I’ve always wanted to meet a siphoner witch, see what they can do. Looks like I got my wish!” He yelled that into Josie’s ear and she screamed.

“You let her go!” Hope shouted at him.

“We’ll see about that. But first, I need her to finish a small favor for me.” He pulled Josie down to the ground. Hope gave her a nod as Roman went to move the cuffs. Attack. Their time was now. At least that was what they thought, “And I wouldn’t try anything Josie. You see, Mr. Facelli is not the only one of your council members from Mystic Falls I have contact with. He’s waiting right outside, and if anything were to happen to me when I take these off, he makes one call, and your sister is dead!”

“No,” Josie said.

“Yes,” he said, a sick smile forming on his face. Josie gave Hope a sad look, and Hope gave her a nod of understanding. Josie had never felt so defeated. Even if she did do this for Roman, nothing was stopping him from killing Lizzie anyway, or Josie for that matter once Hope was gone. There was no happy ending in sight for any of them. Roman removed the cuffs, and forced Josie’s hand onto Hope’s shoulder. Hope let out a grunt of pain as Josie siphoned magic from her. However, she noticed that instead of the pain getting worse afterwards, it started to get better. It was then when Hope realized what Josie was doing. She wasn’t siphoning Hope’s vampirism. She was siphoning the bullet. 

“Josie no!” Hope shouted at her while Roman laughed maniacally, thinking that Hope was scared because Josie was killing her, but Hope knew that wasn’t the case. She could see the poison coursing through Josie’s arm. It was going to kill her. But she could also feel herself growing stronger. It wasn’t much longer until all the magic from the bullet was gone, and Josie collapsed on the floor. Roman paled.

“What happened to her?” he asked angrily. Hope reached for the bullet in her shoulder and easily flicked it out. She then turned to Roman, her wolf eyes glowering at him while her fangs slid out. She moved to her feet, and Roman called out for Mr. Facelli. The man came in, and Hope looked at him. He was just as much to blame as Roman was. She bared her teeth and sped over to him, sinking them into his neck. He screamed out, but Hope didn’t stop. She drained him until he stopped struggling, then snapped his neck when she finished. He fell in front of her, and Hope wiped her mouth. She turned to Roman, but he was gone. She went to Josie and listened for a heartbeat. It was there, but it was faint.

“I’ll be right back Jo,” she said, “Just stay with me a little longer, okay?” Josie didn’t answer, but she moved her finger a bit as a way to show proof of life. Hope left the room. The wolfsbane was mostly out of her system, so she felt great. She used her ears. She could hear Roman running. She picked up her pace and sped in front of him just when he was about to leave, “Going somewhere?” 

“Please, you don’t have to do this,” he begged. All Hope could do was laugh.

“Don’t have to do this?” she asked him, “Don’t have to do this! You let me believe that you were my friend, and then you let my Mother die! And then, you were given wrong information about your sister, so you went after another person who I care about and you hurt then! You are scum, Roman. The worst scum of all. My family didn’t kill your sister, I know that. But I am going to kill you. And you are going to feel every bit of it!” She bared her teeth and sank them into Roman’s arm. He screeched in pain, and it echoed. Hope tossed him to the ground, where he now had a giant werewolf bite.

“Hope, please,” he said. He sounded pathetic, “Don’t leave me here to die.” Hope scoffed,

“Considering what you’ve done, this is mercy,” she told him. She left him on the ground and returned to Josie, who was bleeding profusely from her nose. She ran over to her and said, “Jo? Jo!” 

“Hope,” Josie said, almost inaudibly.

“I’ve got you Jo,” Hope said, moving her to sit on her lap, “I’m going to take the bullet pain like I did before. Only it’s not going to kill me this time, okay?” Josie nodded weakly, and Hope did the spell. She felt a little haunted doing it again, but it was the only option to save Josie. She could feel the poison in her system, but she didn’t stop the spell until it was all inside her. She gasped as the pain went through her. Josie was now able to get on her feet, and she helped Hope up.

“Now I’ve got you,” she said, “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” She helped Hope out of the room, taking care when stepping over Mr. Facelli, “What happened to him?”

“He was going to hurt your family,” Hope said, “I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Hope, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah I did. There was nothing stopping him from telling the others to go after Lizzie. You know that.” Josie nodded. Those had been her thoughts exactly.

“Where’s Roman?” she asked, “Maybe if we get him to Marcel and Rebekah, they can explain what happened and then he’ll leave you alone.”

“Don’t worry about Roman,” Hope said, “My family didn’t kill his sister, that’s all that matters. I think the way out is this way.” Josie stopped, “What?”

“Why do I not need to worry about him?”

“Because I took care of him. He’s not going to hurt any of us, ever,” Hope said. 

“What did you do?” She was answered when she heard a pitiful cough. She walked Hope over to the noise, where Roman was on the ground. The bite was getting worse, “Hope!”  
“I had to do it!” she said. Josie shook her head. She balanced Hope against the wall and went over to him, “What the hell are you doing?” Josie took Roman’s arm and Hope watched her siphon, “Josie!” The bite disappeared.

“Thank you,” he said. Hope didn’t anticipate what would happen next. Josie looked him right in the eye and punched him in the nose, “Gah!” 

“Never threaten my sister again, you hear me!” she yelled at him. He didn’t answer, so she grabbed his arm, siphoning from him. He yelled and said,

“Yes, I hear you.” Josie let him go and asked,

“How do we leave here?” Roman pointed down the hall and said, 

“Keep walking straight then take a right. There are stairs.”

“Are you messing with me? Is someone there?”

“No, no one is there. Please don’t hurt me,” he said. He was a loser with no power. Josie got up and returned to Hope, taking her and leading her down the hallway.

“Why would you do that? I’d taken care of him,” Hope said.

“I didn’t want him to die,” Josie said, “And you shouldn’t have wanted that either.”

“I killed Mr. Facelli, you didn’t have a problem with that,” Hope said.

“You mean Mr. Facelli who has tried to kill you, me, Raf, and wanted to go after Lizzie? Trust me, I know your reasoning for that. But Roman, though he might be an ass deserves to know what happened to his sister.” That was when Hope realized what she meant.

“You think my family did it, didn’t you?” Josie didn’t answer, “You do!”

“Hope of course I don’t!” Josie said, “I know Marcel and Rebekah, and the kind of people they are. But I can also see where Roman is coming from. He doesn’t know them. I bet all he’s heard about them are the bad things they’ve done. It could have made him believe the wrong things.”

“Well he’s wrong,” Hope said, “And he deserved to die for what he did to you.”

“Hope, I don't want you killing people, especially not for me,” Josie said. Hope could feel her shaking next to her. She took her arm and said,

“Josie, I saw what he was doing to you. He was hurting you, you almost had a panic attack. How could you let someone like that go?”

“Because I didn’t want you to have to live with that,” Josie said, “I know it probably felt good in the moment, but he was your friend once, right? Would you still have felt good about it in a few hours?” Hope wanted to say yes, but she knew Josie was right.

“No, I wouldn’t have. In fact, I still feel off about Facelli.”

“And that’s okay. We both know that was the right call because Mr. Facelli wanted to actively hurt us. I fully believe that Roman would have finished with just us. Facelli was on a warpath, he wasn’t. You’re going to be glad you let him live, I know it.”

“Technically, you let him live, not me,” Hope said, “But I trust your judgement, and I know you’re right. But I care about you Josie, very much. And if I see someone hurt you…” she trailed off, unsure of how to finish that sentence. Josie opened her mouth to ask her what she meant, but she was interrupted by movement from the end of the hall, “You hear that?”

“I do,” Josie said, “If Roman lied to us, maybe you had a point.” They opened the door, and as the footsteps came closer, Hope let her fangs slide out, and Josie siphoned her for some magic. Just as they were attack, the person came into view, and Hope asked,

“Aunt Davina?” Josie stopped siphoning when she saw Hope's fangs slip back in.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Davina said, going to give her a hug, “Marcel had Freya do a tracking spell on you guys, and I was here for work, so I went to find you guys. I’m just glad I wasn’t too late.”

“You are right on time,” Hope said, pulling away from the hug, “Josie, this is my Aunt Davina. Davina this is Josie from school.”

“It’s good to meet you Josie,” she said, shaking her hand, “C’mon the car is upstairs.” She took them up the stairs, where they ended up coming out of a cellar door.

“That would have been a way nicer way to get into there then the porch,” Hope observed as Josie helped her back out into the light. The sun felt nice on her skin.

“You ready to go back to New Orleans?” Davina asked, and both girls nodded. They followed her to the car, and Hope gave one last look to the cellar door. While part of her wished Roman could just rot down there, she was glad he wasn’t. She probably would have ended up regretting that. And now she had Josie, and they were both safe. That was all that matters. They got into the back of Davina’s car, where her Aunt handed her a blood bag. While Hope drank, Josie rested her head on her shoulder, and it wasn’t long before she fell asleep. Davina noticed this because she smiled and went, “So, your ‘friend?’”

“Shut up,” Hope said, but even she could see the truth in what Davina was saying. Josie had kissed her, so that meant something, right? But Hope didn’t know. She and Josie were friends now, but they hadn’t been before. And maybe the kiss had just been to get Hope to stop talking that day. People kissed people without meaning it all the time. Hope knew how she felt about Josie, but it was hard to know if Josie felt the same way. But that wasn’t what was important right now. Josie was safe, and as the car pulled onto the freeway, Hope couldn’t help but smile. Josie was okay. And she was with Hope without Hope wanting to feed from her. And in the end, that was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, this chapter took me longer than I expected, so I hope you guys liked it! Next chapter will see the girls back with Marcel and Rebekah, and we'll get to see Josie attempt to process what happened, and learn what happened to Roman's sister...


	15. The Guilty Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie return to the compound, and just when things seem to be going great, a terrifying encounters has Hope making a huge decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has been supporting this story! All your comments mean so much to me! :)

The reunion with Marcel and Rebekah had been nice, though Hope was sad when Aunt Davina said she couldn’t stay. 

“Work is really getting on my case nowadays, but it was good seeing you guys again,” she was saying to Marcel as she was heading out.

“You too D, you know you’re welcome anytime, right?”

“Of course. I love you Marcel,” she said.

“Love you too,” he said, giving her a hug. Once she was gone, he went to sit with Rebekah on the couch, who looked lost, “What is it?”

“That boy, Roman. His sister isn’t dead,” she said. Marcel frowned,

“What do you mean? We saw her body,” he added in a quieter tone. Hope and Josie were upstairs, and while Hope could hear him no matter what, he didn’t want to talk loud enough for them to eavesdrop.

“You’re right, we did. Except after you left, I saw her move. And then I gave her some of my blood to heal her, then I compelled her to leave and forget it happened.”

“Where did she go?”

“Beats me,” Rebekah said, “But either way, the boy deserves to know, right?”

“The boy deserves to die for what he did to Hope and Josie,” Marcel said, “And when I find him, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“And I don’t disagree with you. I’m honestly surprised Hope let him live.”  
“I didn’t,” came Hope’s voice, and the two adults watched her come into the room, “I bit him. I wanted him to die. But Josie siphoned it because she thought I’d regret it later.”

“I hope you would,” Rebekah said. Hope was different than her and Marcel. While she had Klaus’s ferocity, she had Hayley’s kindness. She’d forgiven Roman once, she could do it again. She found herself displeased with Hope’s answer of,

“Well I guess we’ll never know, will we. What were you two talking about?”

“It’s nothing,” Marcel said, “Just some old history.”

“You don’t have to hide things from me, I can handle it,” Hope said.

“Just drop it, love,” Rebekah said, “It really doesn’t matter.” She could feel some tension between the two of them, but she really didn’t wanna fight.

“Are we still going home in the morning? Josie is talking with her parents and they’re expecting us,” Hope said, changing the subject.

“Indeed. I think you going on an eleven hour bus with no problems is as good as any test,” Rebekah said, “Do you have your stuff packed?”

“No not yet,” Hope said.

“Well get to it. I’ll call you girls down when dinner is ready,” she said. Dinner meant blood for her, Rebekah, and Marcel, and food for Josie, Freya, and Keelin. It was a little weird sometimes, but they made it work. Hope left the room, and when she was gone, Marcel said,

“We can’t keep stuff from her forever.”

“We can if we’re protecting her,” Rebekah said, “I need to pack my stuff too.” She left Marcel and went down the hall to her room, not noticing Hope still standing there.

“Liar,” Hope said with a scoff. She went to her own room, where Josie was, looking at the painting. She saw Hope and smiled,

“This is beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Hope said, allowing a small grin to form on her face. She wasn’t exactly happy with Josie right now, but she still liked being with her, and liked her praise, “Uh, Aunt Rebekah said we needed to get our stuff packed. And that dinner was soon.”

“Sure,” Josie said, “I’ll go finish up and be right back.” She left, and Hope returned to her painting. She hadn’t packed anything, so she didn’t have much to do except finish it. She sat in her seat and put her brush in the brown paint, adding the accents to Josie’s hair. She’d been so invested in her painting, that she didn’t hear Rebekah call. Freya came in and said,

“Hope, dinner’s ready.” Hope turned to her, fingers covered in paint,

“Already?”

“Indeed. You must’ve been working pretty hard, huh? Can I see?”

“No, only Josie can see,” Hope said, and Freya laughed, “Well hurry and wash up. Your Aunt Keelin is about to get rage hungry.”

“I’m coming, Aunt Freya,” Hope said, standing up from her seat. She washed her hands in the bathroom and joined her family at the table, “What are we having?”

“For you, O positive, for me the most delectable gumbo,” Aunt Keelin said from her seat next to her, “But who am I kidding, you’ve gotta try this.” She put some on a spoon and gave it to Hope.

“Oh that’s good,” Hope said, “You gotta give me this recipe.”

“Wait, you cook?” Josie asked.

“Hell yeah,” Hope said, “I spent all of freshman year binge watching  _ Cutthroat Kitchen _ . I’ll show you when we get home.”

“Awesome,” she said. She tried the gumbo and said, “This is amazing! What’s in this?” Keelin explained the recipe to her while Hope opened her blood bag up. She sucked it up and watched Josie with her family. She really did fit right in with all of them. Hope knew she couldn’t be mad at her, and she wasn’t really one hundred percent mad, but it was still bothering her. And that plus Rebekah and Marcel keeping secrets was rubbing her in all the wrong directions.

“Hope, would you like some?” Freya asked, pointing to the bowl of gumbo.

“No, this is enough for me,” Hope said, “So Auntie Bex, what were you and Marcel talking about earlier?” They couldn’t avoid her questions in front of the whole family.

“Just that we were glad you and Josie were safe,” Rebekah said.

“Oh okay, I wasn’t aware Josie and my safety was the same thing as Roman’s sister is still alive,” Hope said to her Aunt. Josie’s eyes widened,

“Wait, what are you talking about?” she asked.

“It’s nothing love,” Rebekah said to her. She turned to Hope and said, “Sweetheart, now is not the time. We’ll talk about this later.”

“No we’re talking about this now! Because Josie and I almost died, and that could have been avoided if you had just been honest, but you weren’t!”

“Hope, there was no way we could have known that Roman would go after you,” Marcel said, “So cool off, don’t blame your Aunt for something that was his fault.”

“What I don’t understand is why you were even with his sister in the first place,” Hope said, “Why go after her, what did she do to you?”

“Hope have you even thought to question why the council was working with Roman?” Rebekah asked, “He’s a dangerous vampire, and he’s done a lot worse than you and Josie. So why work with him? Why not just kill him?”

“I don’t know,” Hope admitted. Truth was, she hadn’t even thought about it.

“It’s because Roman’s sister Antoinette was a contact for one of the members. A woman named Andrea Cushing. Cushing being her married name. I only learned recently that her maiden name was Facelli, same as the man working with Roman. This family started this movement in the council, and when they heard of a siphon witch in Mystic Falls who could take down even a tribrid,  _ specifically _ the tribrid whose mother killed his, of course they had to find you. We thought that we could stop the threat by stopping Antoinette, so yes, we went after her. But when we got there, she’d already been staked. Marcel was convinced she was dead, so he left. But I saw movement, and I helped her. And when she disappeared, I moved us to Mystic Falls in order to keep you and the siphon witches close. I didn’t need you to be friends, but I needed to be sure nothing bad would happen. I know, I lied. I didn’t move us because of your father’s many enemies. I moved you because of just one, and I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep you safe, but I will do my best. I will find Roman’s sister and return her to him, and hopefully that will get them both off your back.” There was solid silence once Rebekah was done talking. Neither girl really knew how to respond to her. Marcel broke the silence by saying,

“Hope, everything we’ve done has been to protect you. Please know that.”

“Well none of you have,” Hope said, “I was killed by the Council, then Josie got kidnapped by Roman, and when I finally got a shot at him, when I could have ended it, you stopped me.” She turned to Josie when she said that, and the girl looked at her feet, unsure of what to say, “And maybe if all of you stopped trying to protect me and let me do what I wanted, Roman would be dead, and there wouldn’t be a single problem over our heads!”

“Hope that’s enough!” Rebekah yelled.

“Don’t yell at me because I’m right!” Hope shouted at her. She looked at Josie and said, “You know, you were wrong before when you said you made your choice because I would regret mine. Because the only thing I regret is that Roman is still breathing!”

“If you believe that then you are not who I thought you were at all!” Josie snapped, getting up from her seat and facing Hope, “Because the Hope that I’d gotten to know, she had a soul. A good soul. Whoever this is doesn’t.” Josie threw a napkin on her plate and stormed out of the dining room. Hope scoffed and left. She could hear Josie slam her door upstairs. The car ride home was definitely not going to be fun. But what did Josie want? She knew Hope was right! And Hope was going to make sure she knew that. She stormed up the stairs and went to Josie’s room. She went to open it, but it was locked. That was fine, she could speak her mind just fine from out there.

“You know Josie you talk such a big game of knowing the real me or whatever bullcrap that was!” Hope shouted at her, “But c’mon, we both know the truth! You hated me from the moment we met, and the only reason you even attempted to be nice to me was because of yours and Lizzie’s little plan to get rid of me! So you don’t get to yell at me over what’s wrong and how I’m not being a good person when you don’t even know or like me!” The door opened and an irate Josie stepped out.

“You have no right to tell me what I know!” she snapped back.

“Oh really?” Hope asked, “Let me tell you what I know. I know you let Lizzie believe I started a rumor about her being bipolar which made me lose all my friends. I know you hatched a plan to get my secret exposed so I would have to leave Mystic Falls. And I know that the only reason you’re here right now is because you feel guilty!”

“Hope you know that’s not true, I want to help you!” Hope could feel anger rising up in her, and the veins were returning to her face. Her fangs were slipping out.

“You need to go,” Hope said, turning away from her. She felt Josie’s hand on her shoulder. She angrily shoved it out and yelled, “I said go!”

“No, I won’t leave,” Josie said, “You know what, you’re right. I’ve been a terrible person. I’ve made mistakes, and most of them have hurt you. But I’m done going in circles with you, Hope. We fight, we’re good, then we fight again. I’m done fighting, and I need you to know that there’s nothing you can do that can scare me. You don’t scare me.” Josie grabbed Hope’s arm and turned her to face her. She saw a pained face with wolf eyes staring back at her. Josie moved both her hands to Hope’s shoulders and said, “Just breathe, okay? Everything is okay.” Hope shut her eyes and took a breath, “See? You’re okay.” Hope opened her eyes and asked,

“How did you…”

“Just years of practice with Lizzie. And my own experience. You’re not alone in this Hope, I’m here, and I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about hurting me.”

“But you should be worried,” Hope said, “My control, I can have it for one second, then completely lose it the next. I’m a ticking time bomb, and if I explode-”

“Then I’ll still be right here,” Josie said, “And not because I feel bad, or because I want to clear a guilty conscience, but because I care.” Hope scoffed,

“You care?” she asked, the irritability high in her voice, “You don’t care about me at all, you’ve hated me ever since we met!”

“Yes you did, Josie! You’ve always hated me without even telling me why!” Hope said, angrily turning to Josie, the veins returning to her face. Josie still didn’t falter.

“I never hated you, you idiot. I had a crush on you!” Josie shouted at her. Now Hope was completely at a loss. She paused, and she felt the veins disappear.

“What?”

“I’ve had a crush on you ever since I met you. When we were twelve years old, and you were in town. I kept it to myself, until one day, Lizzie made a joke about me being obsessed with you, and I was scared she’d find out. So I told her that I could never be obsessed with someone who would call my sister bipolar.”  _ Bipolar...the rumor! _

“Wait, so that was why the rumor started? Because you had a crush on me?”

“I know this doesn’t make anything better,” Josie said, “But it’s the truth.” Josie expected Hope to be mad, but really, Hope was extremely flattered. She really couldn’t be really mad at her. Josie kissing her made complete sense now. She was internally kicking herself for not realizing it.

“You had a crush on me?” she asked as a smile formed.

“Of course I did. Who wouldn’t?” Josie asked, and Hope just smiled more. She walked up to her and said, “I’m so sorry. For all of it. If I could go back and change it-”

“Maybe that’s our problem,” Hope said, moving her hand so it entwined with one of Josie’s, “Maybe that’s everybody’s problem. We all keep dwelling on the past when maybe…” She shifted her gaze so she was looking into Josie’s eyes, “We should be going forward.”

“How do we do that?” Josie asked.

“What do you think we should do?”

“Well,” Josie said, tracing a finger over Hope’s chin, “From what I’ve seen, you like to be in control. So...you tell me.” Hope could feel her heart racing. Was this really happening? Josie was giving her a seductive grin, so Hope knew she had to make a move. She moved her hand down to Josie’s waist and pulled her close. She half expected Josie to stop her, but she didn’t. Hope leaned in and kissed her. Josie kissed her back. There was more force and more passion than the first time. Hope’s heart was now racing like crazy. She maneuvered the two of them into Josie’s room, and they took a small break so Josie could spell the door shut. Hope moved her lips down her neck, towards her shoulder. She could tell that Josie liked it. Hope liked it too.

“Is that good?” she asked.

“It’s perfect,” Josie said. She moved her hands to Hope’s shirt and began to undo the buttons. She finished and Hope helped her by ripping the shirt off and tossing it to the side. Her bra was bright pink, she hoped that wasn’t a turnoff, “Why’d you stop?”

“I have no idea,” Hope said. Josie smiled at her and said,

“Don’t hold back. Give me all you’ve got.” Hope knew what she meant. She shifted her position and lifted Josie up, then with her vampire speed, she was able to move her against the wall. She kissed her hard, and helped move Josie's shirt over her head. She was then able to pick her up and move them to the bed. Josie fell on the sheets and pulled Hope down on top of her, “I want this. Do you?”

“Hell yeah I do,” Hope said. Josie leaned up and kissed Hope. It was a wonderful feeling, and she was completely enamored in Josie. She never wanted it to end. She prayed it would never end.

Unfortunately, like they said, all good things. But Hope was happy. Like, genuinely happy. She looked at Josie in the bed next to her. She was snoring lightly, and she looked cute with Hope’s shirt wrapped around her. Hope was glad she’d worn the button up, it had been easy to get off. It had belonged to her father, and it looked huge on Josie. In a cute way. She was also glad she hadn’t found some way to mess up. She’d never done anything like that before, and she didn’t know if Josie had or hadn’t. Should she ask in the morning? Was that weird? Yeah, it was weird. The two of them hadn’t even made anything official yet. For now, Hope could just settle for watching Josie sleep. And that was nice, up until she got really hungry. Stupid blood hunger. She stroked Josie’s face.

“I’ll be back,” she said before getting out of bed. She pulled some sweatpants on and a sweater from the closet that was her Mother’s a long time ago. She missed her. She wondered if her Mom would have liked Josie. Oh who was she kidding? She would have loved her, she knew it. Hope gave the girl in her bed one last smile before leaving the room. She went downstairs and into the kitchen where the blood bags were. She found one and was drinking it when she heard footsteps, “Who’s there?” She didn’t get an answer. She let her wolf eyes out so she could see better. She took another sip of the blood to get her strength back up. Josie had kind of tuckered her out. Oh Josie, with her deep brown eyes and warm smile. She was probably smiling in bed right now. She hoped she was.  _ Not the time _ , Hope told herself. Someone could be out there, “C’mon, you can’t hide from me!” 

She got nothing, but she could hear it now. The slow breathing of someone trying to remain inconspicuous. She slowed her own breathing, and decided to play her own little trick. She used her vampire speed to go towards the stairs, then went back. She could hear the footsteps going to the stairs.  _ Got you _ . She bared her fangs and lunged at the person, knocking them down in one move. She could feel them trying to fight back, but she was stronger. She could feel the person’s throat, and she clamped her hand around it before slamming them against the wall so she could look them in the eye, “You’re a special kind of stupid aren’t you, Roman?”

“No, I’m right where I need to be,” he said. He moved his hands, and Hope could see a syringe. She used her free hand to twist his arm. He howled in pain and dropped the syringe.

“What is that, vervain?” she asked him, “You know that won’t kill me, right? And there’s no way in hell that you’re getting anywhere near Josie.”

“No that’s my problem, Hope,” he said, “I went the wrong way going after you, the all powerful tribrid or whatever the hell you call yourself. No, why should I go after somebody I can’t hurt, when I can spend my time going after those I can.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Hope asked. 

“You’ve been so busy with me that you haven’t even thought to check on poor little Josette. Alone and asleep,” he said. The way he said Josette made Hope feel sick.

“What did you do?” she asked him. He started laughing maniacally, and Hope was about to snap his neck when a voice said,

“Don’t waste your time with her little brother,” someone said. Hope turned and saw Antoinette standing behind her, Josie in her arms. She was struggling against the stronger woman, and her hands were bound. She couldn’t siphon.

“I’ll scream, my family will come running,” Hope said. At least she hoped they would. She was kind of worried that no one had come to check on them by now.

“You do that and Josie is as good as dead,” Antoinette said, pressing down on Josie’s throat, “I add just one more bit of pressure and she is gone.” Josie looked so small, still in Hope’s shirt. Except now her smile had been replaced with a look of pure fear. Hope from before would blame Josie for this predicament. She’d let Roman live. She was the reason they were in trouble. But Hope now knew that wasn’t the case. All of this was happening because of Hope. Josie was in danger because of Hope. And Hope couldn’t let anything happen to her. She released her grip on Roman’s throat.

“That’s better,” he said.

“What do you want? For Josie to kill me? Fine, go ahead. But don’t hurt her,” Hope said. Antoinette began to laugh.

“I don’t want to kill you, Hope. In fact I need you. You see, I need something of your Uncle Elijah’s. Once it’s mine, Roman and I will leave. You and your friend will never see us again.”

“What do you want?” Hope asked.

“The engagement ring he gave me. It must be around here somewhere, right?”

“I know where it is,” Hope said. It was in his old room, hidden in the back of a closet. It wouldn’t be hard for Hope to find. She only wondered why she needed it, “So I give you this ring, and you go?”

“Simple as that,” Antoinette said.

“Fine, but if you hurt her-”

“I will do no such thing,” she said. Hope wished she could go over there, rip Josie out of Antoinette’s arms and then kill both Sienna’s. But Antoinette was a vampire too. She had the speed to snap Josie’s neck before Hope could rescue her.

“I’m taking him. For leverage,” Hope said, grabbing Roman. She dragged him upstairs with her to Uncle Elijah’s room. Part of her was wondering why her family hadn’t woken up. But now that she thought about it, she didn’t even know if they were home. Marcel and Rebekah liked going out to feed late at night, and Freya and Keelin didn’t live at the house. No wonder they’d chosen to strike now.

“I really am sorry about all of this,” Roman said.

“Why does she need the ring?” Hope asked, ignoring his crappy apology.

“My guess is as good as yours,” he said. Hope rolled her eyes.

“I should have ripped your heart out in that bunker. There would have been no saving you then.”

“You wanna kill me then kill me. What’s stopping you?”

“Your sister’s hand on my friend’s throat is a pretty big incentive,” Hope said, opening the door to her Uncle’s room. Her gaze fell on a picture of him and her Mom, smiling. They looked like they were having a good day, and they looked so in love. Hope wondered if she and Josie would ever be able to take a picture like that, and then that thought made her wonder, were they in love?

“Where’s the ring?” Roman asked. Hope wanted to smack him for interrupting her thoughts. She settled for roughly dragging him with her to the closet. She opened it and pushed through the giant array of suits before finding the ring in the back.

“Here,” Hope said, opening the box and showing him the shining ring inside, “Happy?”

“I guess so,” Roman said. Hope and Roman returned back to Antoinette, and Hope basically threw the ring at her.

“Here, take your stupid ring,” Hope said, “And let Josie go.” Antoinette made Roman pick the ring up from the ground, but she didn’t loosen her grip on Josie, “Didn’t you hear me? Let her go!”

“You know, maybe I don’t let her go. Maybe I snap her neck for what you did to my brother.”

“Hey you wanna blame someone, you blame me,” Hope said, “I was the one that bit Roman. Josie saved his life!”  
“Indeed, but the problem is, I can’t kill you without Josie. And Josie would never willingly kill you since the leverage I have against her is gone, so my only option is to kill Josie instead.” Hope grabbed Roman and said,

“I will rip his heart out!” The boy looked scared. Antoinette narrowed her eyes at Hope and said,

“You will not hurt my brother. Not if it means ruining any chance of your friend surviving this,” she said cruelly, pushing her arm down on Josie’s neck. Hope watched the color drain from Josie’s face. Soon she wouldn’t be able to breathe.

“Hope. Don’t,” Josie said weakly. Hope still had her arms around Roman. She could kill him. She wanted to kill him. But Josie mattered more. She had to think. There had to be a way to stop Antoinette without giving her time to snap Josie’s neck. Then she remembered. The syringe Roman had tried to stab her with. She wasn’t sure what was in it, but it had to be good. And she had an advantage over both of them, because not only was she also a werewolf, she was a witch. A Mikaelson Witch. She knew a spell, and she could say it quickly. She murmured it almost under her breath, and she finished it right when Antoinette realized what was going on. The syringe went flying and hit her in the neck. The shock caused her to drop Josie, and Hope sped over to her. She undid the ropes binding her hands the minute she got to her, and pulled her away from Antoinette, who was spazzing on the ground.

“No!” Roman cried out. He ran over to his sister, who was convulsing, “What did you do?”

“I protected my friend,” Hope said. Roman grabbed his sister turned to them and said,

“You’ll both regret this. I’ll-”

“You’ll what? Come back?” Hope asked, “You try anything like this again, you won’t even be breathing by the end of it. Now go!” Her eyes glowed yellow as she said that, and Roman was gone, taking his sister and the ring, leaving Hope and Josie alone in the room. Hope breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank God, they’re gone. Hopefully we don’t have to wor-” she stopped when she heard Josie’s panicked breathing, “Jo?”

“I just, uh, I need-” Josie got out, but her breathing was coming out faster and faster, and she soon collapsed on the ground.

“Jo!” Hope exclaimed. She ended up having to pick her up from the ground. She kissed her forehead and listened to her heart. It was beating, but at way too fast a pace. Josie was panicking, but Hope wasn’t sure why. They were safe, everything was okay, “Let’s get you upstairs.” Maybe getting away from the area where the fight had been would help her. Hope took Josie into her room this time and placed her on the bed, “Jo, can you hear me?” She went to lay next to her, gently stroking Josie’s face. Josie’s eyes opened, but her breaths came out short and she began to wheeze. Hope was at a loss, she had no idea how to help her. She decided to start by sitting her up, “Is that better?”

“I’m sorry,” Josie coughed out.

“No, don’t be sorry. What’s wrong? Let me help you,” Hope said.

“I just, I want my Mom,” Josie said. A tear was falling from her eye. Hope nodded,

“Okay, I’ll call her. What’s the number?” Hope grabbed the phone from her nightstand. Josie stuttered out the number. Hope almost didn’t get it. Caroline picked up at the first ring.

“Jos, is that you?” she asked in a voice that was very kind for someone who was being woken up at three in the morning.

“Um Ms. Forbes, it’s Hope,” Hope said, “Josie’s not doing too well, she wants to talk to you.” She gave the phone to Caroline, and stepped away while Josie talked to her. She heard Caroline walking her through exercises over the phone, and after a few minutes, she heard nothing. She went back in to see Josie asleep, but the phone was still on. Hope picked it up, “Ms. Forbes? Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m still here,” came Caroline’s voice, “Hope, what happened?”

“It was nothing, we just ran into some trouble, but we’re okay,” Hope said.

“Trouble like you left the stove on, or trouble like Roman Sienna?” Caroline asked, referring to the conversation she’d had earlier with Josie after Davina had dropped the girls off.

“The latter,” Hope admitted.

“Hope, Josie is a strong girl, but there’s only so much she can take in a day. And what she was put through today was miles more than she can handle.”

“I know, I understand,” Hope said.

“Do you?” Caroline asked, “Look sweetie, I’m glad you’re both okay, but you need to take into account that Josie isn’t as invincible as you are. She could have gotten hurt, or been coerced into hurting you. It was really scaring her that those people wanted her to siphon the magic out of you. I need you to promise me that nothing like this will happen again.”

“I promise,” Hope said, “Never again.”

“Good. I’ll see both of you girls tomorrow night, okay?”

“Okay. Goodnight Ms. Forbes.”

“Goodnight Hope.” Hope hung up the phone and went to sit next to Josie, who was sleeping sitting up against the headboard. Hope moved some hair out of her face and gently kissed her neck. A small smile spread on Josie’s face, and she opened her eyes.

“Hey you,” she said, “I’m sorry for earlier. I was bugging out for no reason.”

“No, you had plenty of reason,” Hope said through the tears that were falling. Josie noticed this because she frowned and said,

“Hey, what is it?”

“You were almost killed twice in the span of one day,” Hope said, “And that never would have happened if you weren’t close with me.”

“I mean maybe not, but I’m fine.  _ Because _ I had you,” Josie said, “You don’t need to worry about me Hope, I’m fine.” But Hope did worry. She worried because she could still see the bruises on Josie’s neck and wrists from wounds Antoinette had inflicted. Bruises that wouldn’t just heal like they would for Hope. She couldn’t allow Josie to feel that pain again.

“We can’t be together Jo,” she said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

“What?” Josie asked.

“I can’t allow you to get hurt again. Not because of me.”

“Hope I told you. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“But I do. I worry that one day someone will come after you, and I won’t be able to get to you in time to stop them. And I worry that one day I could lose control, and I could do something that you wouldn’t like. I would have killed Roman if you hadn’t stopped me, and you know it.” Hope knew what she had to do, she just had to build up to it. But the build up was killing her, as was the pain on Josie’s face. She just needed to get this done.

“Well Hope, there’s nothing you can do that’s going to make me change the way I feel,” Josie said, “I want to be with you, no matter the good or the bad. Don’t you want that to?”  _ Yes, a thousand times yes! _ But Josie’s safety came first.

“I’m sorry, Jo. Trust me when I say that this is for the best.”

“That what’s for the best? Hope just talk to me, I don’t understand!”

“You’ve been in New Orleans for days. There’s a certain herb that grows in Mystic Falls that doesn’t come around here. And I’m certain it’s out of your system.”

“What are you talking about?” Josie asked. Hope held back the tears that were falling. She had to be completely focused for this. She moved Josie’s face to face hers, looked her in the eye and said,

“You’re going to go home, Josie.” Josie, who realized what was going on, went,

“No. Hope, you can’t do this. You have to let me help you. I believe in you, Hope! You can’t just push me away, I won’t let you.”

“You’re going to go home, and you won’t remember anything other than the fact that I triggered my tribrid curse, and that you came to New Orleans to help me, but it didn’t work. I had to stay behind. You don’t love me, and this trip proved that. In fact, it only proved your point about me. I’m bad news. People from my past hurt us, and while you’re okay now, you know that you shouldn’t be around me. And while we were here, we never had sleepovers, we didn’t even talk. Nothing we did together tonight before Roman came happened. And before, we never talked in the woods, you never came to my house, we never ran lines together, or went to the grill. I’m just Hope, some kid from school you barely know, but you felt bad for. And now you’re going to go back to your family, and be happy. You don’t need me Josie. We aren’t friends, because you are so much better than this and me. So go, be happy, and totally rock that play.” Hope broke away from Josie. The room was quiet. Josie looked like she was in a trance.

“Josie?” Hope asked.  _ Had she done it wrong? Had she broken Josie?! _

“Hope?” Josie asked, “Why am I in your room?”  _ It worked. _

“Your clothes got dirty when Roman came, so I gave you a shirt,” Hope said. Josie looked down at her clothes, frowned and said,

“Hmm, makes sense. I should be getting to bed now. I have tons of work to do for practice once we get home.” She calmly walked out of the room, without as much as a goodnight. Hope heard a door downstairs open. Rebekah and Marcel were home. Hope went downstairs, and saw the two of them looking very confused about the mess in the living room.

“Hope, what happened?” Rebekah asked.

“Roman came back, this time with Antoinette. I guess no big reveal that his sister is alive. The son of a bitch didn’t even apologize for trying to kill me for no reason,” Hope said with a forced laugh to try to ease the tension. It didn’t work.

“Where’s Josie?” Rebekah asked.

“She’s asleep,” Hope said, “But um Auntie Bex, I did something.”

“What is it sweetheart?” she asked.

“If I tell you, promise not to get mad?” Hope asked her. The smile on Rebekah’s face disappeared,

“What have you done?” Marcel quickly excused himself and Hope wrung her fingers together as she relayed the whole events of the night from after she’d left dinner to compelling Josie to forget-leaving out her and Josie’s intimate moment of course-, and when she was done, she couldn’t really figure out what to make of Rebekah’s face. She didn’t look angry, so that had to be good, right? Wrong, “You. Did. What?” Each word was punctuated like its own sentence.

“I had to do it,” Hope said, “It was for her own safety.”

“Hope do you remember what I told you when Freya first took down the barrier spell?” Hope honestly didn’t so she stayed silent, “I told you that I was allowing her to take it down because I trusted you enough to use your abilities responsibly. How on Earth is using those to your own advantage to erase Josie’s memories without her consent using them responsibly?!”

“You promised not to get mad-”

“I promised no such thing! What the hell were you thinking?! You don’t do that to your friends, especially a friend like Josie who cares so deeply for you!”

“I told you, I had to do it! She was having panic attacks because of what I put her through! And when I was finished she looked disoriented, yeah, but she looked so _free_ , Auntie Bex! You didn’t see what happened to her earlier, how tormented she looked!”  
“And you think what you did to her will make it any better? You took away days from her! Soon enough that’s going to drive her mad, and then what? Will you just bring them back?”

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet?”

“Clearly you hadn’t thought at all!”

“Yes I did! I thought ‘what is the best thing to do that will protect Josie?’ and I did it! And I’m sorry that you’re upset at me with my decision, but it’s my decision! You can’t change it!”

“No, but you can. I want you to go upstairs, and undo this. Hopefully not enough time has passed, and Josie will forgive you for this.”

“I can’t do that,” Hope said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Hope, if you don’t go up there and fix this right now, then Josie will never forgive you. And neither will I.” Hope was taken aback. She hadn’t expected that. But she had to stick with her decision. She knew it was right.

“I told you. My mind is made up.” Rebekah shook her head and said,

“Go to your room, Hope. In the morning, I’m driving Josie home. If you change your mind and do the right thing, you can come with us. If not, Marcel will take you home in a few days.”

“Auntie Bex-”

“Just go. I can’t even look at you right now,” she said. Her voice was cold. Hope wanted to keep talking to her, but she knew there was nothing to say. On her way to her room, she looked into Josie’s. She saw the girl on her laptop, scrolling. She was smiling, and she looked happy. The complete opposite of the girl who’d been freaking out not that long ago. All because Hope had erased herself. Hope was confident in her decision, and had no plans to undo it. Because as long as Josie was happy, she could live with herself. But she still couldn’t stop thinking about the night she’d just had with Josie. The passion, the rush, it had felt good, it had felt right! But at what cost? If they’d stayed together, it would only serve to make Josie have to live in fear of the Siennas coming back. Or she’d be constantly worrying about Hope, instead of thinking of starring in the play in a few weeks. And Hope wasn’t going to let Josie ruin her life like that for her. She’d worked too hard. Hope got under her covers, and rubbed the empty space on the mattress where Josie had once been, taking in the lingering scent of vanilla. Oh how she wanted her to be there right now. Then she heard a distant sound from Josie’s room. A laugh as she read a text on a phone. Hope smiled. That laugh made her happier than anything else. It played in her mind over and over again, and it eventually allowed her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was definitely a doozy for me to right and I hope everyone enjoyed it. Rebekah is definitely unhappy with Hope's decision, and while Hope is very confident with it now, things always change. This is the last New Orleans chapter, with the next few going back to Mystic Falls and focusing more on the high school side of things, so stay tuned! :)


	16. If I Could Tell Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie return home to Mystic Falls, and Josie worries that something may not be right.

Josie stepped out of Ms. Mikaelson’s car and gave the woman a cheerful goodbye, unaware of the pained look on her face. She swung the duffel she’d packed with her over the shoulder and opened her front door. She went inside her Mom’s house and saw MG, Lizzie, and Raf watching a horror movie. Well, Lizzie and Raf were watching. MG was hiding under his blanket. A mischievous grin spread across Josie’s face as she quietly walked up behind them. She crept up to them slowly, and right at the moment when the killer jumped out from the door, Josie jumped up from behind the couch.

“Boo!” she said. Lizzie and Rafael both jumped, and MG straight up began to scream. Once everything calmed down, Lizzie turned the lights on and went,

“Jo?”

“Hey sis,” Josie said, giving her a hug.

“I didn’t know you’d be back already,” Lizzie said as they pulled apart, “How was the trip? How are you? And how’s Hope?”

“Fine I guess. Her Aunt said she had to stay back for a bit, but there was really no reason for me to, so she dropped me off. How are you guys?”

“Well I was great, until  _ you _ scared the daylights out of me,” MG said.

“I’m sorry, but you have to admit, that was funny,” Josie said, going to give her friend a hug. Raf, who’d been checking the time said,

“I didn’t realize how late it was, I’d better get going. I’ll see you guys in school tomorrow. Josie, it’s good to have you back.” He got up to leave, and Josie was given a shock when he leaned towards Lizzie and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll see you at practice Raf,” Josie said to his retreating form. Rafael gave her a confused look, but Lizzie walked him out before he could say anything. Josie looked at MG and asked, “When did that start?”

“A bit before we got the call that said you and Hope were missing,” he admitted, “And um Jo, about practice-” he started to say, but Lizzie cut him off.

“MG, I’ll get Josie up to speed,” she said.

“Cool. I’ll see you at school tomorrow Jo. Wait, are you coming to school? Your mom said-”

“I’ll be at school,” Josie said.  _ Why was everyone being so weird _ ? “Goodnight MG.”

“See you guys,” he said. He grabbed his backpack and left the house. Lizzie closed the door behind him, then came back to clean up the living room. Josie moved to help, but she told her she had it. That was new. Lizzie hated cleaning.

“You just rest, okay?”

“Lizzie I just slept six hours in the car. I’m about to be up all night,” Josie said, “But now that we’re alone...what’s going on with you and Raf?” Lizzie turned to her and looked like she was going to answer, but instead, her face filled with concern as she said,

“Oh Jo, what happened to you?” She walked over to Josie and looked at her wrists. They still had bruises on them from last night.

“Oh this, it’s nothing. Just a small fight, but I’m fine, really. Are you gonna stop being weird and tell me what I’ve missed or what?”

“Well, it’s just that-” Lizzie started to explain, but she was interrupted by Mom calling down to her from upstairs.

“Elizabeth, it’s past 9, I thought I told your friends to be home by then! There’s school in the morning,” she said.

“Oh it’s not them, Josie’s home!” Lizzie said. Caroline vamp sped down the minute Lizzie finished talking and gave Josie the biggest hug.

“Sweetie I am so glad to see you,” she said, giving her a kiss to the temple, “When did you get in? Are you hungry?”

“Just now. And yeah, I’m starving. Can we go to the grill?”

“They’ll be closed now, baby. Tell you what, I’ll make you some macaroni and cheese. We’ll go old school. Lizzie, do you want any?”

“No, I’m okay. I should be heading up. I have to go in early tomorrow.”

“Right. Early morning practice, I almost forgot. Dad’s gonna come by and take you, okay?”

“Yeah, I remember. Good night guys,” Lizzie said, “Mom, you’ll tell Jo?”

“I’ll talk to her. Go to bed honey,” she said. Lizzie gave Josie one last hug before going upstairs to her room. Josie turned to her Mom and said,

“Morning practice? That’s new. When do we have to be there?” Her Mom didn’t answer. She just started boiling water, “Mom can you just talk to me? Why is everyone walking on eggshells around me?”

“I’m sorry, we don’t mean to make you feel like that. It’s just that...two weeks was a long time to be gone, and things happen. What you went through, I can’t even begin to imagine. When Hope called me last night, or this morning I guess, she sounded so distraught.”

“I mean yeah, it was kind of bad. But I’m fine, really. You don’t have to worry.” Josie was being genuine. She felt fine. She wished Lizzie and her Mom would calm down.

“I’m sorry, but I am. You sounded really lost on the phone, sweetheart. I would have gone to New Orleans myself if Rebekah hadn’t said she was bringing you home.”

“Why?” Mom gave her a concerned look and said,

“Honey, do you remember talking to me on the phone last night?” Truth was, Josie didn’t. At least not that well. Like, she remembered that she’d had a conversation with her Mom, but other than that, all she could piece together from last night was that Roman had attacked and she guessed that Hope had saved her.

“I mean...kind of? I don’t know. Most of that night was kind of a blur.”

“Blur? What does that mean?”  _ Mom really had no chill tonight, did she? _

“That means it happened, and it was bad, but it all moved by so fast, and I’m good now. In fact, I’m better than good. I’m happy, and I’m going to rock the play.” Josie smiled at her Mom for emphasis, expecting that to be enough to get her off her case, but instead, Caroline looked down and said,

“Right, the play. Josie, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, and your sister wanted to tell you, but I think you should hear it from me.”

“Hear what?” Josie asked, getting nervous.

“It’s just that you’ve been gone for a while, and you were so distraught on the phone, so we all thought you’d do better taking some time to yourself.”

“I just had a thirteen hour car ride where Ms. Mikaelson and I didn’t talk at all. I can assure you, I have had plenty of me time. What is your point?” Josie didn’t mean to sound rude, but her Mom was dancing around telling her something, and it was getting on her nerves.

“My point is that you’re done. I talked with your teachers and they all agreed. Clara will be taking over the role for this one.” Josie and her Mom were silent for a bit, with Josie hoping she’d heard her Mother wrong. She’d had to have heard her wrong, right? That was Josie’s role! She’d worked hard for it and she’d practiced it every day while she’d been away. This wasn’t fair!

“Mom, that’s my role! I know all my lines and the songs! You can’t take it from me!”

“This wasn’t my decision! At least not completely,” Caroline said, “I know it wasn’t your fault, but you’re behind on school, and Dad and I talked with your teachers, and we all agreed that some time at home by yourself to catch up and relax will be really helpful. And I’m taking off to stay with you at home, it’ll be fun. We can talk about anything that’s bothering you.”

“Except nothing is bothering me. Other than the fact that a role I worked to get for months was taken away from me without me  _ doing _ anything!”

“I’m sorry honey. But my hands are tied. There’s always the spring musical.”

“Yeah, too bad all those roles go to seniors because it’s their last show.” Josie was only a sophomore. She had no chance at any of those, “I’m not hungry anymore. I’m going to bed.”

“Honey, please just talk to me,” Caroline said, “I want to know how New Orleans was. I bet you and Hope had some fun, right?”

“Why would I have fun with  _ her _ ?” Josie asked, “I only went in the first place because I felt bad for her! Obviously a big mistake.”

“Hey,” Caroline said, “What’s going on with you? I remember when you were asking to go and it wasn’t just because you felt bad for her. You wanted to help her, and I was so proud of you for that. I still am. And now I gotta know, did it work? Is she alright?”

“I mean I guess so. She wasn’t trying to rip me apart or anything on our last day. But Ms. Mikaelson let me go early because Hope still needed more time, and I wasn’t opposed because I was excited to go back to school and my friends, but I guess not.”

“Josie, you’ll be allowed to go back to school on Monday, you’re only missing two days so you can make up some work,” she said gently.

“Do I get my role back on Monday?”

“Josie-”

“Then what difference does it even make? This is unbelievable,” Josie said. She pushed away from the table and stormed upstairs, ignoring her Mom trying to call her back. She’d grabbed her duffel on the way, and she tossed it on her bed when she got to her room. She turned the lights on and looked around. It was kind of a mess, probably because she’d packed in such a hurry. Josie kicked her shoes off next to the door and pulled her hair out of the ponytail she’d tied it into in the car. There was a box on her desk that hadn’t been there when she’d left, with a note on top. She picked it up and read, “Hey Jo, this is a new phone with all your information already uploaded. Hope you like it! Love, Mom.” 

Josie opened up the box and turned the phone on. All of her texts were from right before she’d left. There were some from Lizzie, her parents, Rafael, and MG. She opened her conversation with Lizzie, where it was a bunch of texts asking if she was okay and if she was with Hope. These had been sent a few hours before she’d left for New Orleans. Josie could remember that day. Being in the council’s bunker with Raf, Hope and Lizzie coming to save them, Hope dying, then her agreeing to go to New Orleans. That was all that had been to it. She’d felt bad. She didn’t particularly care that much for Hope Mikaelson so she was still wondering why she’d gone. Especially with all that decision was costing her at the moment. Josie put the phone on her desk and went to unpack her duffel. She was pulling out her clothes when there was a knock on the door.

“Mom, I said I wasn’t hungry!” she said.

“Not Mom, just me,” came Lizzie’s voice, “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, come on,” Josie said. The door opened and Lizzie entered. She noticed the upset expression on Josie’s face and said, 

“I’m guessing Mom told you.”

“Yep. I would have liked to hear it from you.”

“I know, and I wanted to tell you, but Mom came, and I chickened out. Plus, she wanted to tell you anyway so…”

“Yeah yeah. I’m not mad at you or anything if that’s what you’re worried about,” Josie said, “But not gonna lie, I’m bummed. Clara?”

“I know, it sucks! But she was the only option and she’s not terrible on stage with Raf-”

“Yeah I bet she’s great if she was chosen to be an understudy, but c’mon. I’m way better than her and it’s not like I’m sick or anything! I can do this role, I can handle it.”

“I know,” Lizzie said, “But I kind of agree with Mom. Don’t hate me, but you have been through a lot, and take it from me. Sometimes a break is all you need.” Josie shrugged,

“I don’t wanna take a break, though. I want to get back into a grind with a routine.”

“I know sis, and you will. Mom is just being a little paranoid right now because of what happened to you and Raf. She’ll cool off soon.”

“Here’s hoping. Speaking of Raf...care to explain what I walked into?” Josie asked with a teasing smile. Lizzie blushed and said,

“Oh...that. It’s a really recent development, and I was gonna tell you, and then I heard what was going on in New Orleans and I thought that was inappropriate.”

“Well now I’m asking. Tell me everything,” she said. Lizzie came to sit next to her and said,

“So, we started hanging out a lot a few days after you left, then one day Raf was walking me home, and before he could leave, Mom asked him to stay for dinner, and he did. Then after, I offered to walk  _ him _ home, and I took him home, and we were on his porch, and he kissed me.  _ He _ kissed  _ me _ ! That has never happened to me before, Jo! And of course I had to kiss him back, and we’re not officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but like, we pretty much are. Oh he makes me so happy, Jo. And he’s so caring. When Hope’s Aunt called and said the two of you were missing, he offered to drive me to New Orleans himself to go look for you, and I would have gone, but like, Mom and Dad.” Josie laughed,

“Yeah, they definitely wouldn’t have been okay with that. Lizzie, I’m glad you’re happy, and Raf is such a great guy. You deserve this.”

“Thank you, Jo,” she said, “But enough about me. How was New Orleans? Did you help Hope? Is she okay? You were so worried about her so I’ve been wanting to know.”  _ So worried. Why would Josie be so worried? She barely even knew Hope Marshall or Mikaelson or whoever she was. _ Josie decided to humor Lizzie instead of getting into an argument with her.

“Uh yeah, I was worried,” Josie said, and Lizzie nodded at her with understanding, “And um, there were days when I thought that she was never going to be the same again, but uh, when we were in trouble she always came through. And at the end, she wasn’t trying to rip me apart, so I think I helped her.” That was all Josie could say. She and Hope hadn’t really talked in New Orleans, so there wasn’t much. But if she said that, Lizzie would just ask more questions, so sticking with the lie felt goof.

“That’s cool. Is she at home now?”

“No, her Aunt said she had to stay behind a few days. I think they got into a fight. They didn’t even say goodbye when we were leaving, Hope stayed in her room.”

“That’s sad. What were they fighting about?”

“I don’t even know.” Josie had heard them yelling late last night, but she hadn’t really heard them, she’d been texting Mary from school. But now she was kind of curious. Had the fight been about because Hope hadn’t actually been okay?

“I really do need to get to bed,” Lizzie said, interrupting Josie’s thoughts, “Goodnight sis. I’ll see you after school tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you. Tell me how practice goes. Maybe Clara will trip over her feet during her tap dance and I’ll have something to enjoy.” Lizzie laughed and said,

“I’ll video it if she does. Goodnight Jo.”

“Goodnight Lizzie,” She said. Lizzie walked to the door, but before she left, she turned and said,

“It is really good having you back. I missed my best friend.”

“I missed you too,” Josie said. Lizzie waved goodbye before leaving the room. Josie continued unpacking her stuff, not tired enough to go to bed. She regretted sleeping so long in the car. It would be hours before she’d be able to sleep, and it was already past 10. Maybe it was good that she wasn’t going to school in the morning so she could sleep in. She was pulling out shirts and noticed the huge button up she’d been wearing last night. She must have forgotten to give it back to Hope. Maybe her Dad could give it back to her at school. She got bored of packing and decided to hold off on it for a bit. She took of the skirt she’d been wearing and got into pajamas before pulling her laptop out of her backpack. She decided to watch a movie on it until she fell asleep. She opened it and saw an array of movies in her previously watched list. She frowned.

“I never watched any of these,” she murmured to herself. In fact, they’d been on her “list of movies to watch after the play was over.” But all of them were watched.  _ Weird _ , she thought. Maybe Lizzie had logged into her library while she’d been away and watched them. Josie decided to go with that before picking one to watch. However, as she watched it, she found herself just knowing what was going to happen. Almost like it was a memory fighting to come out. Right when she was remembering something about the movie, it was being pushed back in. It made her head hurt. Josie shut the movie off. It wasn’t helping. She shut her computer and stared at the ceiling. She was glad to be home, but she felt wrong. She didn’t get what was going on with her family. They were concerned about Hope, and they were right to be, but Josie and Hope just weren’t that close! Josie still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that she’d gone to New Orleans just to help her out. And for two whole weeks at that! Why would she do that? None of this made sense. She rolled over to her side and stared out the window. Maybe counting the stars would help her sleep. But that did nothing. She was still unable to take her attention away from the movies. How were they all watched?

“Please explain,” she said to her computer, but it wasn’t like it could answer her. Instead she rolled away from it, and waited for sleep to come. It was all she could do. 

Nearly two more weeks had passed before Hope Mikaelson returned to Mystic Falls. She was sitting in the passenger’s seat of Marcel’s Range Rover, and looking at the houses on her street. She was nervous to get to hers. She knew Aunt Rebekah was still mad at her. She was supposed to go back a few days ago, but Rebekah hadn’t been ready. She guessed she was now, but the clipped conversation they’d had on the phone last night proved the anger was still there. Hope was glad Marcel wasn’t mad at her. He’d been upset at first, but he’d eventually gotten over it. Hope looked at the numbers on the mailboxes. They were getting dangerously close, and it wasn’t long until the car was pulling up in front of the familiar white fence. The lights were on, which probably meant Aunt Rebekah was awake.

“Are you coming in with me?” Hope asked her brother.

“I can’t, kiddo. I have to get back to the city and get to work. We still don’t know why the Siennas needed that ring, but I can’t imagine it’s for a good reason. And if that reason is to hurt you or Josie then we need to figure this out as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, I understand,” Hope said. Though she did know that Josie was going to be fine. She didn’t know Hope existed. All was normal again. She got out of the car and was heading towards the door when she heard Marcel ask,

“Forgetting something?” His gaze went to the backseat. Hope nodded and opened the door, pulling out her now finished painting of Josie.

“I don’t even know why I brought this back with me,” she said. Maybe as a way to hold on to what she’d had. Looking at it made her heart hurt. She missed Josie so much. But she knew her decision had been right.

“It’s a beautiful painting, Hope,” Marcel said, “Be proud of it.” Was that a passive way of him saying “I’m proud of the painting, but not you?” Hope decided not to read into it too much. She waved goodbye to him and went to the house. She heard Marcel’s car leave as she opened the door and walked inside. She was glad that he’d waited.

“Aunt Rebekah? I’m home,” Hope said as she walked into the foyer. She kicked her boots into their usual spot and put her painting down so she could take off her jacket. She heard her Aunt’s footsteps and turned just in time to see the woman come down the stairs.

“Hello Hope,” she said. No sweetheart or darling. Just Hope. It sounded dirty.

“Hi,” Hope said, “Um, how are you?”

“I’m fine,” she said, “How was Marcel?”

“Fine,” Hope said, “How’s Josie?” Was Rebekah checking in? Had she been seeing her?

“I didn’t think you’d care,” Rebekah said, “Given how little regard you showed her last time we saw each other.” Hope refrained from rolling her eyes. Rebekah didn’t get it! If someone she loved that much had been put through what Hope had seen, maybe she’d be able to understand!

“Of course I care,” Hope said stiffly, “You know I do.” Rebekah didn’t say anything. Hope watched as Rebekah’s eyes ended up on her painting, which was leaning against the door. She gave it a sad look that was probably designed to make Hope feel bad. But it wasn’t going to work. Hope was sure of herself, and she needed her Aunt to understand that. Maybe after that they’d be able to get back to a somewhat normal.

“There’s blood in the kitchen if you’re hungry,” Rebekah said after what felt like hours of silence, “That should be enough for the night.”

“Thanks,” Hope said. She was hoping her Aunt would come down the stairs, and at least give her a hug or something, but she just turned and went back up the stairs. Hope wanted to call her back. She hadn’t even answered about Josie. But that would probably make things worse. She went to the kitchen and cracked the lock on the fridge before opening it. She pulled out a blood bag and frowned at how cold it was. Blood always tasted better warm. She contemplated going out to feed, but decided against it. Rebekah would probably just get more mad. She finished the bag, then grabbed the painting before going upstairs. She placed it on her easel with her art supplies near the window. She then changed out of her clothes into pajamas and picked out an outfit for school in the morning. She was a little nervous to go back, and none of it was due to wanting to feed. She’d gotten most of those urges under control, but she was scared to see Josie. And not just Josie, but MG, Lizzie, and Raf too. She hadn’t compelled them. What if that caused problems? A small voice in Hope’s head was telling her that she wouldn’t be having these problems if she’d never compelled Josie, but she shoved it away. If she hadn’t compelled Josie, then she’d have other problems, like worrying about if the Siennas were going to come after them again, or wondering if Josie wanted to date her. That was at a way lower magnitude than the other problem but it still managed to cause Hope some stress. 

Hope got under her covers, glad Rebekah had washed all of her sheets. They’d been covered in Josie’s blood when she’d last been here. That felt like another life. Hope could still remember the fear in Josie’s eyes before Hope had fed on her. She saw it every time that voice in her head was telling her she shouldn’t have compelled Josie. She was better off without Hope in her life. Hope heard a buzz from her desk. She got up and could see that it was her phone screen. Hope hadn’t used her phone in days. She got out of the bed and checked the messages on it. Hope didn’t really text people, so she didn’t have anything other than one from Marcel, asking if she had gotten in okay. She texted him back that she was fine, then plugged her phone in. Hope honestly didn’t charge her phone much since she barely used it, but one of the conditions to her coming home was that she needed to have it on her at all times so Rebekah would know where she was. That thought sounded comforting to Hope, because she knew her Aunt still cared. She hoped Rebekah wouldn’t be mad at her for long. She missed having someone to talk to.

Hope couldn’t hear Rebekah moving around. She was probably asleep. Lucky her, Hope’s mind was spinning. She couldn’t get it calm enough to sleep. She laid in bed for a bit before getting up and deciding to take a walk outside. She pulled some sneakers on and wrapped a cardigan around her shirt. She took her phone and some earbuds so she could listen to music. Maybe that would stop her thoughts for a bit. Or at least distract them. She quietly slid out of her house and started on a straight path. For so late outside in November, the weather was surprisingly warm. Hope usually didn’t notice the weather because she never got cold, but she did today. There was a breeze, but it was warm. It felt nice. Hope was kind of glad to be back in Mystic Falls. She could recognize everything, and she had a soft spot for suburbia. If only she and Josie hadn’t been attacked in New Orleans. That would have changed everything. 

Hope took a turn into a neighborhood after a bit more minutes of walking. She could tell that the path she’d chosen to taken was a familiar one, but she’d been so wrapped up in her music that she hadn’t realized the path she’d been taking until just now. She stopped in front of the familiar house. It was after midnight, so she was surprised to see a light still on. Hope pulled an earbud out and walked towards the window. That was when she saw her. Josie had her hair out and it was spilling over one shoulder. She had the biggest smile on her face as she opened her computer to show it to some people. Hope recognized Lizzie and Josie’s friend Mary. She guessed they were having a sleepover. Would Josie have invited Hope to sleepovers? Would she have let her sit with them at lunch in the morning? Hope’s doubt disappeared when she saw Josie laugh. Josie looked so happy. She was happier without Hope, that much she knew. Hope smiled before putting her earbud in and continuing her walk. What she didn’t notice as she was walking away was that Josie saw her. She left the computer and looked out the window at Hope’s retreating form. An uncertainty that had been plaguing Josie came back. Was there something that she was missing? Why did she feel like something in her life was missing? And why did just thinking about Hope make her feel that way?

“Jo? You good?” Lizzie asked from her bed. Josie turned to her and said,

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just thought I saw something. But it was nothing.” Lizzie nodded and accepted that as an answer before continuing her conversation with Mary. Josie said she was going to go to the bathroom before running downstairs. She slid into some flip flops that she were sure were her Mom’s because of how awkward they felt on her feet before going outside. She could see Hope walking away. She had earbuds in and wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings. Josie half walked half ran over to Hope and said, “Hey!” Hope stopped in her step. Josie watched her take her earbuds out and turn to look at her.

“Josie,” was all she said. Hope had a calm demeanor, but Josie felt like she was about to freak out, and she didn’t know why. She nervously tugged at the strings of her hoodie. Did she say “Hope” as a response? Did she ask if she was okay? She felt that she should, considering her family had been wondering why she hadn’t been more concerned about Hope’s well being.

“Hi,” she said. Hi felt safe. She felt like jumping into a “how are you doing?” conversation would just be awkward for the both of them. Hope just waved in return. Josie had never felt more awkward than she did right now. Why had she gone outside? Hope didn’t look like she was about to talk, so Josie figured that she’d have to continue the conversation, “Um, when did you get back?”

“A few hours ago,” Hope said, “So not that long ago.”

“Oh. Cool,” Josie said, and Hope nodded. They were silent again, so Josie decided to just go for it, “So. How are you?” She asked that question like a robot, at least she’d felt like she had. 

“I’m fine. Well, as fine as a newbie vampire can be,” she added with a laugh. Josie just nodded. She then wrapped her arms around herself. She felt cold. It had been warm when she’d left, but now a cold breeze was coming in. She wondered if Hope wasn’t feeling it, she was wearing less layers than Josie was and she wasn’t reacting. Plus, according to Mom, vampires didn’t get cold. Lucky them.

“How have you been?” Hope suddenly asked.

“Oh me?” Josie asked, “I’ve been fine, great even.” She wondered if Hope could tell she was lying. Because truth was, this sleepover was the first real fun she’d had in a while. She was bored out of her mind not doing the play, and Lizzie and Raf were always together or at play practice so she had no one to hang out with after school. Even MG had the play. And when they could get together, all there was to talk about was the play, which no one liked to bring up around her, so they talked about nothing. And she was still behind in school, so the extra homework that should have served as something to do was just stressful and bringing her down. Her Mom had let Mary sleep over on a school night in hopes that it would raise Josie’s mood, and it was, but ever since she’d seen Hope that same off feeling she’d been having ever since she’d gotten out of Ms. Mikaelson’s car was back at full force. The feeling that something was missing, something she couldn’t figure out. And not knowing was driving her mad.

“Cool,” Hope said. So much for being able to tell. They were silent again, and Josie felt three awkward silences hit some kind of limit, so she was about to leave until Hope continued with, “Damn, it’s cold out.” She wrapped her arms around herself, “My Aunt is lucky. Vampires can’t get cold. But werewolves and witches can, so that’s always fun.” It felt almost like a learned memory as Josie took her hoodie off and gave it to Hope.

“Here, maybe this will help.” She had no clue why she’d done that, but it had felt pretty much instinctual. She saw a gaze of familiarity in Hope’s eyes as she looked at the hoodie Josie was handing her. She watched her trace a finger over the words on it. This was getting weird, “You can just uh, give it back in the morning.” 

“I will. Thank you Josie,” Hope said. There was almost a pain in her eyes. What was she so upset about? It was just a hoodie!

“I don’t really need it right now, my house is right down there,” Josie said, pointing to it. Maybe Hope looked sad because she thought Josie was cold? She had no clue. Hope slowly nodded as she pulled the hoodie over her body.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” she said almost inaudibly as she moved the hood out of her face. Josie nodded, deciding not to tell her about the play. She was probably never going to talk to Hope again, so what did it matter?

“See you,” she said. She turned and walked away from Hope, picking up the pace so she could get away from her and out of the cold. Back on the street, Hope hugged the hoodie close. She wondered if it had been wise of her to erase every somewhat good memory Josie and her had. The night with the hoodie had been harmless, right? But she couldn’t. If she could tell her, she would, but Josie's safety came first. Hope put her earbuds back in her ear, and turned around to walk home, giving one last look to Josie’s house as she did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has been reading! Next chapter will see the girls back at school, and Hope's return might lead to Josie realizing a lot of things aren't adding up...


	17. She Used to Be Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope returns to school, and Josie discovers something unexpected

Hope entered the school, and she was a little surprised to see it was just as she’d left it. She’d kinda figured that since she was completely different, everything else would be too. But that wasn’t the case. She went to her locker and opened it up. She opened her backpack and pulled out the small carry on cooler she’d brought with her that contained a blood bag. Hope had missed Aunt Rebekah this morning, but she’d left the cooler for her on the kitchen counter with a note telling her to drink one bag before she left and this one at lunch. Hope was a little nervous to bring it to school, but she figured it would be safe in her locker. Plus she could barely smell it, so she doubted the humans at school could. She saw Principal Saltzman, and he waved at her before walking over. Great. Making conversation with the Principal who was also Josie’s Dad was not what Hope had planned for the morning. He got to her locker and said,

“Ms. Marshall, it’s good to have you back.”

“You know, you don’t have to call me Marshall anymore, Principal Saltzman.”

“Well it’s still what you’re registered here as, so it’s gotta stick for now,” he said, “How are you? Josie said you came home last night.”

“Yeah, I did,” Hope said, “And I should have all the work I missed in really soon.”

“It’s okay, take your time. You’ve been through a lot,” he said, giving her a comforting rub on her shoulder, “My office is always open if you need someone to talk to, alright?”

“Okay,” Hope said. She really didn’t know why Principal Saltzman was being so nice to her. Usually the only times they talked was when Hope was in trouble. Hope wondered if she was in trouble, and he was building up to that, but he just told her he wished her well for her first day and to come to him if he needed anything before leaving. While that had been weird, it had also been kind of nice. Hope closed her locker door and was walking to English when she saw Josie. She was leaning against her locker, and she was texting someone on her phone. Hope approached her cautiously. Josie didn’t notice Hope as she approached her, so Hope cleared her throat. Josie turned to her, and Hope noticed the earbuds in her ears. Josie looked confused as she took them out and went,

“Uh, hi. Did you want something?”

“Yeah. To give you your hoodie back,” Hope said. She unzipped her backpack and handed it to Josie. Josie took it from her and said,

“Thanks. There was really no rush, though.”

“It’s fine,” Hope said, “I didn’t want to keep it for too long. In case you missed it.”

“Yeah, sure,” Josie said. She opened her locker and put it in. She closed her locker, and said, “Well, thanks again.”

“No problem,” Hope said, “I’ll uh, I’ll see you in practice after school.” Josie opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it, not saying a thing. Hope frowned.  _ Had she said something? _ She was starting to feel awkward, so she decided not to press Josie on it. She gave her a wave goodbye just as Lizzie came up to Josie. She tapped Josie on the shoulder and said,

“The hoodie swap again? You’re getting really unoriginal.”

“What are you talking about?” Josie asked as she wrapped her earbuds around her phone and slipped them into her backpack. Lizzie frowned and said,

“The hoodie. You gave it to Hope last month, she gave it back to you at practice. Remember?”

“Huh? No I didn’t,” Josie said.

“Yeah, you totally did. I asked you where she got the hoodie, you told me you gave it to her in the woods, we made the plan. How could you forget?” The plan Josie remembered, but nothing about giving Hope the hoodie. Josie shook her head and said,

“No. I think I would remember giving Hope my hoodie. I’ll see you at lunch.”

“Josie!” Lizzie called back for her, but she ignored her and walked to class. As she walked, she attempted to ignore the growing confusion building up inside of her, but it was getting hard. Because now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the reason why she and Lizzie had made the plan to get rid of Hope. She just knew that they’d made it. Anything else from that day felt like kind of a blur. Josie didn’t know what it was, but she had the gnawing feeling that something was very wrong.

After school, Hope entered the backstage area and looked around for Josie. She couldn’t see her with everybody else on stage, but she saw Raf. She walked over to him and said,

“Raf, hey!”

“Hope! It’s so good to see you,” he said. He gave her a hug that Hope wasn’t expecting. That had been the most kindness she’d been shown all day.

“You too,” Hope said as they pulled apart, “It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

“Good, really good,” he said, “Ever since that night with the council, I’ve gotten a way better handle at this whole wolf thing, and having friends who I can talk about it with has been nice. Plus, now that you’re back, I’ve got a fellow wolf.”

“Yeah, me too,” Hope said, “So uh, about the whole wolf thing. Did Lizzie or Josie tell you how the curse gets triggered?”

“Lizzie and I have talked about it,” Rafael said, “But I’m not sure if I’m ready to do so with anyone else. All you need to know is that I’m not dangerous, and I understand what I did. Is that okay?”

“It’s just fine,” Hope said. She didn’t like telling people her story either. The only person outside her family who knew was Josie, “Maybe one day, we tell each other?”

“Yeah,” he said, “It’s great to have you back. I’ll see you around, alright?”

“Cool,” Hope said, “Hey, where’s Josie? She usually gets here the earliest.” It was already 3:40, and Josie would usually get there at 3:10 at the earliest even though practice didn’t start until 4:00. Hope had asked her why during one of their sleepovers, and she’d given the most Josie response ever with,

“I always have to get there early. That way, if anyone needs my help, they’ll know where to find me.” Hope had asked why she’d felt like that was her responsibility, and she’d said,

“I’m the lead. And part of being the lead is making sure that everybody else knows what’s going on so we can work together. And I don’t see it as a responsibility. I’m happy to do it.” If she was happy to do it, then where was she? Hope noticed Rafael study his feet, and she could feel his heart pounding. There was something he wasn’t telling her.

“Raf?” Hope asked, “Where is she?” Raf looked a little uncomfortable, like he was about to say something he wasn’t supposed to. Hope could still hear his heart, beating so hard like it was about to fly out of his chest at any moment. Hope thought he wasn’t going to say anything, but he did.

“Josie isn’t coming,” he said.  _ That was it? Was she sick? _

“Oh. Is she sick?” Hope ended up asking aloud. She’d seemed fine in Algebra earlier today, but maybe she’d gotten food poisoning or something during lunch? 

“No, she’s not sick,” he said, “She’s not in the play anymore.”  _ The hell? _

“What?” Hope asked. Josie loved this play! “Why not? Did she quit?” Quitting made no sense! She’d practiced her lines and songs with Hope every night, and she’d gushed over how her parents had gotten front row tickets.

“No, she didn’t quit. With everything that went on with the two of you in New Orleans, her Mom and Dad were worried the play was too much work, so they pulled her from it. Clara’s gonna be Katherine now, and she is...fun.” Hope could tell he was  _ not _ having fun without Josie. But that wasn’t what she was worried about. Josie was forced to leave, and it was all Hope’s fault. If she hadn’t have let the Sienna’s get too close, then Josie wouldn’t have had that panic attack. She’d still get to do the play. But what Hope didn’t understand is was that she’d compelled away Josie’s pain from that night. And after she’d done that, Josie hadn’t been as panicked. So why did her Mom think she was? Worry came over her. Maybe she  _ had _ done the compulsion wrong. What if Josie was worse off.

“That’s so unfair,” Hope said, “Can’t we get them to change their minds?”

“Trust me, we’ve all tried. But with what happened, and then Josie acting like none of it happened, her parents were worried that she was hiding something. They wanted to keep a closer eye on her and make sure she was okay. Look, don’t tell her I told you. She doesn’t really like when people talk about it.” Hope nodded and said,

“Yeah yeah, I get that. But thanks for letting me know.” Rafael nodded before saying,

“I gotta get back, but I think MG is back there, and he’ll be really glad to have your help.”

“Sounds great,” Hope said, even though the thought of being at practice without being able to watch Josie sing and dance sounded like torture. She liked hanging out with MG, but her favorite part of practice had always been watching Josie. And now Josie wasn’t in the play anymore because of Hope. She must really hate her. Hope shook that thought away.  _ She can’t hate me, she gave me her hoodie _ . Then again, the first time she’d given Hope a hoodie, she’d hated her, right? Except Hope knew that wasn’t true. Josie had harbored a secret crush on her, and for all Hope knew, she still did. Hope approached MG who was dangling precariously off the scaffolding, “Hey you okay?”

“Hope, hey!” MG said, turning himself around in the harness, “Um, I’m great. Except I’m probably about to fall so-” he got cut off when the snap on his harness broke, and before he could crash into the ground, Hope quickly did a spell to slow the fall. MG landed gracefully and said, “You’re the best, Hope. I thought I was a goner for a second.”

“MG, you’re a vampire,” Hope said in a whisper, “I think you would’ve been fine.”

“True, except if I had fallen, and there’d been no bruises, there’d be suspicion.” 

“Yeah, I get that,” Hope said, “So, what do you need me to do?” MG gave her some instructions while he went to go get paint. He hadn’t really done a lot while Hope was gone, which she figured was due to the fact that he had no idea what was going on, but she was fine with that. Maybe some woodwork would get her to ignore the fact that Josie wasn’t there. She put her goggles on and got to work with the saw. The blade was loud, but with her ears, she could hear everything around her. She could hear Rafael and Clara arguing because they both had completely different takes on the scene. Lizzie was about to get into a fight with the costume director because they hadn’t altered the costumes to Clara’s size instead of Josie’s. And half of the newsboys were laughing about how one of them had spent all weekend jerking off to videos of the music teacher on Facebook.  _ Gross! _ Hope held in a gag. She wished she could just turn her ears off. It got to be a lot sometimes.

“Whoa Hope, careful!” came MG’s voice, breaking her from her eavesdropping. She realized the saw was getting super close to her fingers, so she quickly stopped. 

“Sorry, I didn’t even see,” she said. 

“That’s okay,” MG said, putting the paint down, “Hey, you got all the wood cut that we need. I can’t start with the painting, then we can drill that on in a bit. Plus, you look like you could use some air. Do you mind heading into town and picking up a set piece. Lizzie has it on hold in the antique shop by the laundromat, and it would really help us out if we got it today.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Hope said, “Do you mind if I take some time to stop at home. I’m really hungry,” she said. He gave her a knowing nod and said,

“Totally fine. Take your time.” 

“Thanks,” Hope said. She was glad MG and Rafael were being so nice to her. It had been the only upside since she’d come home. She slid her jacket on and left the school. She made it to her house and walked inside. She could smell something familiar. The aroma of grilled cheese wafted through the house. Hope smiled. Aunt Rebekah was making her favorite good. Everytime they fought, she’d make her a grilled cheese, and they’d apologize. That meant she wasn’t mad at her anymore! Hope pretty much ran to the kitchen, but ended up nearly crashing into the wall when she saw the scene in the kitchen. Her Aunt was making a grilled cheese, but not for her. Josie Saltzman was sitting on the other side of the counter. The two of them noticed Hope, and Josie said,

“Hey, I came here to talk to you, and your Aunt said you were at practice, but there was no one at home so she said I could stay.”

“Oh. Cool,” Hope said. Part of her was disappointed that her Aunt wasn’t making her “fight over” grilled cheese, but another part of her was just happy to see Josie. She sat down next to her and said, “MG asked me to pick something up for him but I came home to eat first. I think we’re gonna have a long night and I didn’t have any...um, food.”

“Hope, don’t be insensitive,” Rebekah said sternly. Hope looked at Josie and saw a little hurt in her eyes. She probably shouldn’t have been talking about play practice.

“It’s fine, really,” Josie said, “I bet it’s fun. Being back.”

“Yeah, but not too fun. Everyone misses you,” Hope said.  _ I miss you _ , “So uh, what are you doing here?” The only times Josie had come to her house was when she’d come to run lines that first time-which Hope had compelled away-and when Hope had nearly ripped her apart. So why come back?

“Oh,” Josie said, “It’s just that I had one of your shirts in my room. And you giving me my hoodie back reminded me that I still had it, so…” Josie unzipped her backpack and pulled out the white button up shirt. She handed it to Hope. Hope could smell Josie’s familiar vanilla lotion on it. She remembered Josie’s gentle hands slowly undoing the buttons at the house in New Orleans. She felt a rush of adrenaline remembering that night, and she had to quickly calm herself before she accidentally wolfed out. She smiled at Josie and stammered out,

“Thanks. I didn’t see this when I was packing, so I was wondering where it was.” Truth was, she hadn’t even noticed, but she felt a small twinge of happiness at the fact that Josie had taken it. Hope placed the folded shirt on the counter and asked, “Can I have a sandwich?”

“I thought you wanted blood,” Rebekah said simply, as if Hope had said she’d wanted a bag of chips. Josie paid it no mind, though. She was too busy examining her cuticles.

“Right, I did,” Hope said. She got up from the counter and undid the lock on the fridge. She didn’t even notice Josie had been watching her until she turned to her and saw the girl quickly turn away. Hope grabbed the first bag she saw and quickly shut the door. She redid the lock and said, “I’ll gonna have this upstairs.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s rude to leave when a guest is over,” Rebekah said in perhaps one of the most condescending tones Hope had ever heard. She hid her face from Josie so she wouldn’t see how red her cheeks were getting. Why did Aunt Rebekah have to be so mean?

“Fine,” Hope said. She didn’t feel like getting into a fight by adding that she had to leave anyway to get MG’s set piece, so she just fed from her bag, ignoring Josie’s watchful gaze. She felt it on her back, and it gave her a burning sensation. She needed to get out of there. She basically shoveled the rest of the blood bag in her mouth and said, “I gotta go.”

“To where?” Rebekah asked.

“I promised MG I’d get him a set piece,” Hope said. Rebekah rolled her eyes and said,

“Fine, go. Josie, would you like a glass of water?” she asked her. Both Hope and Josie looked a little confused about how Rebekah wanted her around.

“Oh, it’s fine Ms. Mikaelson,” she said, “I don’t want to impose.”

“It’s fine darling,” Rebekah said, “I like having you here.”  _ Did she just call Josie darling? I’m darling! _ Hope thought indignantly. So Rebekah was going to be cold to her but the second Josie comes over to return a stupid shirt, it’s all “darling” and “I like having you here”? Where was the loyalty!

“You know what Josie, you are imposing,” Hope said, “You should probably just go.”

“Sure,” Josie said, “Goodnight Hope.” 

“It’s four thirty!” Hope snapped at her retreating form, but she didn’t answer. The front door closed and Hope rolled her eyes. Josie was so dramatic.

“What the hell was that?” Rebekah asked.

“Excuse me? Why are you having dinner with Josie while I’m at school? You barely even know her, why was she even here?”

“Because she has been spiraling ever since she got home,” Rebekah said, “She lost her role in the play, she’s been behind in school, and she doesn’t sleep at night because she feels like something is missing but she doesn’t know what. What do you think she means by that?” Hope shook her head,

“No. I’ve seen her in school. She’s been  _ happy _ . Way happier than she was before.”

“Oh dear God, Hope!” Rebekah yelled at her, making Hope jump back a bit, “Are you so blind to your own faults that you actually believe that. I mean, you saw it just now, right? She was miserable at even one mention of that show, but no, all you see is one time she smiles at school and you think, ‘oh look how great I am, I saved Josie’s life, good for me!’. But you didn’t save her at all, in fact, you ruined her, because as long as there is a piece of her life missing she will never be happy, and you know it!”

“You’re wrong!” Hope spat at her, “You’re just trying to punish me for something that you knew I had to do. You invited Josie over, knowing I would come home, and, and you wanted to rile me up by being so sweet with her, so that we would get to here and you could tell me how wrong I was, when in reality, she’s fine, and you’re just trying to start something!”

“You really think that’s the only reason she’s here?” Rebekah asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I think!” Hope fired back. Rebekah shook her head. She turned the stove off and stomped to the living room, “Where are you going?” Hope got up from her chair and followed Rebekah. She watched as Rebekah opened a cabinet, and pulled out a bunch of movies. Hope recognized them. They were the movies on Josie’s “watch after the play is over” list. Josie had gotten impatient and she’d watched them with Hope on her laptop during their sleepovers. But Hope had erased the sleepovers, so Josie probably didn’t even remember them.

“You know what these are?” Rebekah asked. Hope nodded,

“Josie’s movies. I watched them with her, but she doesn’t remember,” Hope said. Rebekah nodded and said,

“Every afternoon after school while her friends are all practicing the play, Josie has come here. I make her a grilled cheese, and we watch one of these movies together. It’s been nice. She’s even told me that it’s been the highlight of her day, so no, I didn’t invite her here to rile you up. We already had these plans!” she snapped at her.

“Then why did she tell me that she came over here to return a shirt?” Hope asked.

“Because she didn’t want you to know,” Rebekah said, “Ever since she’s come home, everybody in her life has asked her about you, and how you’ve been doing, and she has no clue what to say because you erased all her memories! So one day after school, she came over and she asked ‘what happened? Why is everyone treating me like a completely different person?’, and you know what I said? I told her I didn’t know. I lied right to her face and said I did not know. Do you know how much that hurt me to do?”

“It probably wasn’t easy,” Hope murmured.

“You’re right, it wasn’t. Hope, Josie and I really got to know each other in New Orleans, and I got to see the kind of person that she was. She was somebody who loved you so much, and wanted to help you, to do what was best. She may not have seemed it, but those weeks with you in New Orleans were the happiest of her life. Sure, it started out rough. She wasn’t sure what to do, she was freaking out. But then she stepped up. She went to you and stayed by your side. If you think she’s happy now, you should have seen her. She was stressed about your new situation, of course, but being with you, that made it all go away, I could see that. But you took that for her, and now she’s so lost, and I know you can see that.”

“No, no,” Hope said, “I helped her, I did. She was smiling and laughing the whole night after it happened, she was just fine.”

“That’s your defense? Hope, she hadn’t even had time to process everything! It’s been weeks and I can assure you, she isn’t smiling and laughing anymore!”

“She seemed just fine when I went to her house!”  
“When were you at her house?”

“Last night. I was taking a walk because I couldn’t sleep and I ended up at her house. I hadn’t meant to but I did. And I saw her and Lizzie with one of their friends. She looked great! Exactly like she did when she left New Orleans.”

“You are so naive you know that? Like seriously, are you even listening to yourself? You abused your power to take away Josie’s memories, and your only defense for doing so is that she looks happy. You do realize that’s all you’ve got, right?”

“I don’t have to listen to this,” Hope said, standing up from the couch. Rebekah scoffed,

“So that’s it? You realize you’re wrong, so you just get up and leave?” Hope ignored her, “You know, I’ve always been proud of you, since the day you were born. And I love you, I always have. But right now I’m not sure what to say to you. You are unable to admit that what you did was wrong, and I have no clue how to get through to you.” Hope remained silent as she slid her shoes back on, “Hope, I really need to know. Are you still one hundred percent positive that this was the right call?”

“I have to go,” Hope said after a solid minute of silence. She strung her backpack over her shoulder and headed to the door. Rebekah stopped her before she could go.

“You’re not leaving this house until you answer my question.”

“I have magic, I can teleport,” she said.

“I’m hoping you respect me enough to not do that.”

“What do you want from me?” Hope asked her in an attempt to deflect.

“I told you! I want you to answer my question. Do you think it was the right call?” Hope shrugged, “What? What does that mean?”

“I...I don’t know, okay. I don’t know!” Hope shouted at her Aunt, “Is that good enough? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“So you do have doubts,” Rebekah said.

“No, I never said that,” Hope said.

“That’s exactly what you said because that's what I don’t know means. Hope, you can still fix this. I’ll drive you to Josie’s house, we’ll undo the compulsion.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I just can’t!” Hope shouted, “And I’m sorry, but I need to go.”

“Hope Mikaelson don’t you walk away from me,” Rebekah said, but Hope was done talking. She stormed out of the house and went into town. She still needed that stupid set piece.

Josie was watching a movie in the living room when Lizzie came home. Josie watched her kiss Rafael goodbye before coming in.

“Hey sis,” she said, “How was your day?”

“It was fine. I went to the library, it was nice,” Josie said. Lizzie didn’t know about her afternoons with Rebekah, so it wasn’t like she could tell her about Hope’s house.

“Nice. Practice was okay. We couldn’t finish marking up the set because Hope took ten years getting the centerpiece from the antique store, but we can do that tomorrow. Sorry, I know you don’t like hearing about practice, but I’ve been annoyed.”

“It’s okay Liz,” Josie said, “Did you have dinner yet? I’m kind of hungry.” She was kind of sad Hope had come before she could finish her sandwich. Or even eat it.

“I did, but I could go to the grill with you if you want. I kinda want ice cream.”

“Sounds good, I’m gonna change clothes,” Josie said. She turned the TV off and went to her room. She opened her closet for an outfit to change into, only to see that it was mostly empty. Her hamper was too which reminded her that it was laundry day. She was going to take something from Lizzie until she saw her duffel. She’d never finished unpacking, so she probably had some clothes in there. She took it out and put it on her bed. She unzipped it and rifled through it for some clothes. She postly had tops and no pants, but she found a skirt. Josie pulled it out and nearly yelped as a bound journal that had been wrapped inside fell out. Josie didn’t even remember owning a journal. She sat on her bed and opened it up. She hadn’t had it for long as it seemed since her first entry was from only a month ago. She recognized the date though. It was from her first day in New Orleans. She read it aloud.

“Dear Journal. Wow, that’s weird. I never thought I’d be one of those people who kept a journal, but it’s been a crazy couple of days, so why not. I bought you in a gas station in Atlanta, and I honestly thought I’d never use you, but like I said, crazy. Let’s get right to it. So I got to Hope’s house, had to drink blood because I was dying from a wolf bite, then I had a panic attack, very scary, but Hope’s Aunts calmed me down. They were both extremely kind to me. And now I’m sitting outside Hope’s room. She acted like she didn’t want me here, but she moved to sleep near me at the door. And I can see her. She’s smiling. I think this will work, I believe in Hope. But I do worry. Freya put a binding spell on Hope’s room. After she lost control in the Quarter. She fed off an innocent woman and nearly bled her dry. I worry that I’ve created a monster. If she can’t control her impulses, she can’t live a normal life. Or at least one as normal as she can have, being an immortal tribrid. That was so weird. Josie didn’t remember writing in this journal at all. And she definitely didn’t remember sleeping outside of Hope’s room. But she remembered everything else. She remembered the gas station in Atlanta and buying this journal, and she remembered the panic attack. She just didn’t remember making this journal entry. Josie flipped through the journal and continued to read,

“Hope and I have been having sleepovers every night. We talk about such simple things like art, the play, or that MG is in love with Lizzie. We all agree that she kind of likes Raf, though. It’s been nice. I can see that Hope isn’t a monster, just a girl who has been scared, and wants to do better. I’ve been sleeping on the ground outside her floor, and every time she acts annoyed, but when I wake up in the morning, she’s right there with me.” These journal entries made no sense. Were these sleepovers a regular thing? Her face paled as she continued this entry, “We just started my collection of movies that I’d had saved to watch once the play finished. I think she liked Mamma Mia, even though she was pretending not to. She was totally jamming along to Honey, Honey.” So Josie  _ had _ watched those movies. She’d watched them with Hope during sleepovers that she couldn’t remember. She flipped ahead, “It’s been six days, and Hope has made a lot of progress. I just spoke with Freya, she plans on dropping the barrier spell tonight. I think this means that we get to go home soon. I am enjoying New Orleans though. Hope has shown me a good time, and I hope we can come back one day. She’s been a good friend, through all of this, and I hope she knows how much I believe in her.” The Josie who’d written in these journals sounded a lot like the Josie her parents and Lizzie had been expecting when she’d come home. A Josie that really cared about what had happened to her. She continued to read, “We took the barrier down a few days ago, but Marcel and Rebekah think Hope would benefit from some more time here, so we’re just hanging out. She has her slips, but she is doing so well. I think we might get to go out tomorrow. It should be exciting.” Josie checked the time stamp on this entry. It was from a day before she’d been kidnapped by Roman. She was about to start reading another entry when she heard her sister ask,

“What are you reading?” Lizzie asked from the door, making Josie jump and drop the journal. She picked it up before anyone could see it.

“A journal I wrote in while I was away,” she said, “It makes no sense. I don’t even remember writing in this. Plus, I keep calling Hope a friend. We still want her out of here, right?” Josie had kind of forgotten about the plan in the last two weeks, but now that Hope was back, she just wanted her gone. She felt a little bad for thinking it because of how close she’d been getting with Rebekah, but Lizzie had been so dedicated to the plan, and she didn’t want to let her down.

“Huh?” Lizzie asked, “I mean, I still want her gone, but you backed out the plan.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Beats me. You said you felt bad about leading her on, then Hope came in and found out what we were doing, which is why you followed her, but then you got kidnapped so we went to find you.”

“I remember getting kidnapped, but I don’t remember any of what you just told me. How am I only remembering parts of the day?”

“I don’t know, it makes no sense,” Lizzie said.

“Plus, how would I even back out of the plan if we never really went forward with it?”

“What do you mean? We  _ did _ go forward with it,” Lizzie said, “You pretended to be friends with Hope. You went to her house, you went out to dinner.”

“No we didn’t.”

“Yeah, you did,” Lizzie said, “What’s wrong with you? How do you not...oh no.” A look of realization came over Lizzie’s face, and it kind of freaked Josie out.

“What?”

“When you went to New Orleans, were you by any chance still taking your daily dose of vervain?” Josie frowned and said,

“I don’t think so.” Josie, who was starting to get the gist of what Lizzie was saying, went “You don’t think that Hope would-”

“If she didn’t, then all the other vampires who live there definitely could have,” Lizzie said, “What do you want to do?”

“We need to call Aunt Bonnie,” Josie said, “She said that there’s a spell that she can do to undo compulsion, and we need to do that.”

“Jo, I know that spell. It’s really painful, especially if she’s erased so much.”

“I don’t care, I need the memories back. If I don’t get them it’ll drive me crazy. It's already driving me crazy.” She picked up her phone, and dialed the number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now Josie knows! Next chapter sees the return of a familiar face, as well as a heated confrontation...


	18. Journey to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie and Rafael help Josie with a risky spell, and the results lead to a huge blowout

When Bonnie went to the Saltzman House, she was expecting it to be about a small spell the girls needed help with, or for them to tell her they wanted to cancel a lesson. What she wasn’t expecting was to hear that Josie had been compelled and she wanted the memories back.

“Kiddos, this is a rough spell, I’m not sure if you know what you’d be getting into,” Bonnie said, “The spell physically rips into your brain and quite literally pulls memories back. It’s very painful, and it will be worse depending on how much the vampire took.”

“I don’t care,” Josie said, “I need to do this.”

“Well I can’t do this spell without asking your Mom and Dad,” Bonnie said, “It’s very complex, and I don’t think they’ll want me doing it without permission.”

“You have my permission,” Josie said, “That’s enough.”

“Josie-”

“Please, Aunt Bonnie. I need this,” Josie said, “We don’t have time to ask my parents. You have my consent. Please do this.” Bonnie looked at her and said,

“Sweetie, this spell is not only painful, but it’s extremely dangerous. Unless I get permission from both of your parents, my answer is no.”

“But Aunt Bonnie, these are my memories,” Josie said, “I’d like them back.” Bonnie gave her an understanding look and said,

“Are you one hundred percent sure you’ve been compelled? You know that supernatural beings can’t be, right?” Josie nodded,

“Yeah, but they can be by the Mikaelsons. And I spent weeks with them, then I came back and I thought I was fine, then I read a journal full of things I wrote, but don’t remember.”

“Then I see no reason why your parents would say no,” Bonnie said, “I have to go now. Let me know when they give you permission, and we’ll do the spell. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Josie said. Bonnie hugged the girls goodbye before heading out. Once she was gone Josie said, “Okay, I have the spell written down upstairs. Maybe we can siphon each other.”

“But we haven’t asked Mom and Dad,” Lizzie said.

“We aren’t asking Mom and Dad. They’re not going to say yes.”

“Aunt Bonnie said they would,” Lizzie said, “Plus, they’ve been so worried about you. Wouldn’t you want to let them know that there is a reason you’ve been off?”

“Dad flipped out when I did that spell with Hope, and all that gave me was a nosebleed and a headache. I can tell this is about to be way worse. There’s no way they’ll say yes.”

“Then what do you wanna do? Aunt Bonnie said if we siphon each other, it might not work.”

“Could you ask Raf? Or MG?”   


“Not tonight I can’t. MG has a ton of homework and Rafael had plans with his family.”

“Then can we do it tomorrow after school? You told me this morning that there was no practice, and Mom is working late. We could get it done before she comes home.”

“Are you sure about this?” Lizzie asked, “This is making me nervous.”

“Yes,” Josie said, “If Hope or anyone in her family took my memories, I’d like to get those back, because whatever they were, they must have been pretty important.”

“Okay,” Lizzie said after a moment, “I’ll ask Raf. But if I see something go wrong, I’m not going to do the spell. I couldn’t live with myself if I let something happen to you.”

“I know,” Josie said, “Sis, I’m gonna be fine. I can handle myself,” Josie said, even though truth was, she was really nervous. What if it didn’t work, or what if it messed her mind up more? Josie had to shake the doubt away. If she got her memories back, it was worth it. Josie went into her room and looked at the spell pages on her desk. It wouldn’t be too hard for Lizzie to do, but the amount of warnings on the page looked very unappealing. Josie took a breath.  _ You’re going to be fine _ , she told herself.

“Jo, do you still wanna get food?” Lizzie called from downstairs.

“Yeah, I’m coming!” Josie told her. She opened her duffel and pulled some clothes on, and hid her journal and the spell in her desk before going downstairs. A night with her sister was what she needed right now. She could eat, and she could relax. And by this time tomorrow, she’d hopefully have her memories back, and she would know exactly what Hope Mikaelson was trying to hide.

It hadn’t been hard to get Rafael on board. Josie had been surprised, though. She hadn’t really expected him to believe her tale, but he did. The three of them were now in Josie’s room. Lizzie was reading the spell while Rafael asked if it was safe.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Josie admitted, “But I know we have to do this. Liz, you ready?”

“Yeah,” Lizzie said, “It says you should sit down, but upright. So uh, sit against the bed, and we can get started.” Josie nodded and sat on the bed. She could feel her skin crawling. Josie could handle pain, but sometimes it was better when she didn’t know it was coming.

“Ready Jo?” Raf asked. Josie nodded and watched as he took Lizzie’s hand. She watched the magic flow from him to Lizzie. She then started to chant. At first, Josie didn’t feel anything, and then she felt a small tingle in the back of her head. But then it quickly got worse. She felt immense pressure on her head. She clutched it and cried out. As it worsened, she started seeing things.

_ “Ignalusa!” The fire came out, and she caterwauled it forward. She’d only meant to hit a tree, but the giant yelp she heard from behind one showed that that was not the case, “Crap.” Josie ran to where the fire had been and saw a wolf lying on the ground. Had she killed it? She was about to just run until the hair on the wolf started to recede. Josie inched forward, and watched as all the fur went away, revealing human skin. _ Josie had seen Hope turn into a wolf that night. She then saw herself whipping her hoodie off and giving it to Hope. Lizzie had been right, she’d given Hope the hoodie before.

“Josie?” Lizzie asked, breaking the memory as she stopped the spell.

“It’s working,” Josie said, “Keep going.” Lizzie nodded and continued the spell. The pain came back, and Josie clutched her head. It hurt like hell, but the memories continued,

_ “I needed someone to run lines with and Raf was busy. Could we do it together?” Josie was asking. She was standing at Hope’s front door. Hope looked confused, but she still said, _

_ “Uh yeah, I guess. Um, come in.” _ The memory progressed. It was the same night, but they were in what Josie remembered as Hope’s room.

_ “Well enough about me,” Josie saw herself say, “I’d like to know about you. Who are you, Hope Marshall?” The memory progressed, _

_ “No, she’ll hear you,” Hope was saying, “I’m a wolf, so you can siphon me, right? Isn’t there a kind of spell that you can do to teleport yourself?” _ Had she done magic with her?

_ “Yes, there’s one. Can I take your hand?” Hope nodded, and Josie took her hands before beginning the incantation. _ She saw herself do the spell. She was broken out of the memory. Lizzie continued the spell, and she saw her and Hope at the grill. A waiter was asking,

_ “What are we having?” _

_ “Grilled cheese,” the both said at the same time. _ They’d gotten dinner together?

_ “Do you both want fries?” They nodded. Hope also ordered a peanut butter blast milkshake with whipped cream on the bottom. Josie ordered her usual strawberry with extra on the top. _

_ “I’ll put that in,” he said, and after he left, they both started to laugh. _ She was laughing with Hope, a girl that she barely knew. She yelled in pain as the memory continued into the night. She could see her and Hope arguing, 

_ “Oh I don’t take responsibility? How about when you started a rumor about me that lost me some of the only friends I had at that school? How about when you were forced to apologize, and you told me to stay out of your way? You didn’t even say the word sorry.” _

_ “That has nothing to do with this!” _

_ “And yet it does! You have no right to yell at me for what I do when it is the only thing that keeps me sane because I don’t have any friends to keep me grounded! All I have is the turn, which is the one thing, the one thing, Josie, that stops me from losing control! So yeah, I transition more than I should. But it was your lies that got me to this place. Take some responsibility for that.” _

_ “Hope-” Josie said. Josie watched as the other girl didn’t listen. She walked away. _ The pain was even worse, but it was working. She saw her and Hope doing a spell at school. She was siphoning a wolfsbane bullet with a wolf, and they were both suffering. Then, Hope was at her house,

_ “There’s not much to say. Those hunters are going to come after me. And right now, I don’t know if I have the strength to fight them,” Josie was telling her. _

_ “You won’t fight them alone. I’m here, Josie.” _

_ “For God sakes, Hope,” Josie said, “You said it yourself, we aren’t friends. We did a spell together, and it almost killed us. I have the feeling that us fighting together would not go well.” _

_ “Fine, don’t accept my help. But if Mr. Facelli has been tracking supernaturals, then he knows about me, and MG, and whatever new wolf your Mom and Mayor Donovan were talking about. They aren’t going to stop with you, Josie. So don’t think of me as doing this for you, I’m doing this for myself, because guess what? I don’t wanna die. I want to have a life, a normal life. So I don’t care if you don’t wanna be friends, I don’t even care about you. All I care about is-” Hope’s long tirade was cut off when Josie leaned in and kissed her. _ Oh my God she kissed her. How could she have forgotten that?

“Josie, you’re bleeding!” Lizzie said, stopping the spell. Josie felt her face, and could feel the blood coming from her nose. But the memories were incomplete.

“No, you have to keep going,” Josie said, “I’m fine, you can’t stop.”

“Jo,” Lizzie said, “I can’t keep doing this if it’s gonna hurt you.”

“My memories aren’t complete, but I’m getting so much,” Josie said, “Please.” Lizzie sighed. She took Rafael’s hand again, and she continued the spell. As Josie’s head began to pound, the memories flooded in. They were in the basement. Josie remembered being locked in there, but she didn’t remember what had happened between her and Hope. Now she did,

_ “Except I’m half wolf. Just like the wolfsbane didn’t have the full effect, maybe this won’t either. Josie, I’m not taking no for an answer, I’m doing this,” Hope was saying. Josie was lying on the ground, weak. She’d been shot by the anti magic bullet. Hope was saving her. _

_ “I can’t let you.” _

_ “Well I’m not asking. I’m doing.” Hope grabbed Josie’s arm and did the spell. _ Josie recognized it as a spell that moved magic from one place to another. She thought only siphoners could do it.

_ “You can’t do this spell without a siphon witch!” Josie yelled. _

_ “No, I can’t do it without the power of a siphon witch. But with my hand on you, I’ve got it.” She continued the spell. Oh, I see, _ Josie thought.

_ “Hope, please,” Josie begged. She couldn’t lose her, even if that meant she died. Hope continued the spell, and Josie was too weak to stop her, “Hope! Stop it! You’ll die!” The way she shouted that was haunting. She was scared. _ The memory continued. Hope died, they went back to her house. That Josie still remembered. She remembered Hope feeding on her, and she remembered how she’d coerced Rebekah into taking her with her. As Bonnie and Lizzie continued the spell, she saw her and Hope at the house in New Orleans. It was everything the journal had said,

_ “I can break that, you know. I can siphon the magic away,” Josie was telling Hope. _

_ “Considering all that has happened today, I’d rather you didn’t,” Hope said. Josie nodded before arranging her pillow and blankets on the floor by the door, “What are you doing?” _

_ “I thought we could have a sleepover. Haven’t you had one before?” _

_ “No, I haven’t,” Hope said dismissively. Josie ignored her and settled herself on the ground, _

_“You didn’t have any sleeping bags, so I made do with this.”_ _  
_ _“Can you please go?”_

_ “Nah, I’m good. I know you feel alone, and like nobody cares, but I care. I always have, even though I had the most shitty way of showing it, so I’m staying.” _ Josie couldn’t imagine ever saying that to Hope, but she did. She then saw her spending multiple nights outside the door. There was even a moment where she called Lizzie. She and Hope were completely stoned, and laughing together. Josie looked like she was having a lot of fun. The memories continued to a few days later. Freya had dropped the barrier spell, just like the journal had said, and the two girls were sitting in Hope’s bed watching Mamma Mia.

_ “So the Mom slept with three different guys, and the daughter invited them all to the wedding so she could figure out how the day was?” Hope asked after Honey, Honey ended. _

_ “Exactly,” Josie was saying.  _

_ “But why couldn’t she have just sought them out and asked for a paternity test? If she could prove that she was the Mom’s daughter, wouldn’t they have done it for her?” _

_ “I mean maybe, but this is a lot more fun,” Josie said. _

_ “Will she at least ask for a test once they get there?” Hope asked. _

_ “You’ll see,” Josie said. The two girls continued to watch the movie, and when it became clear that Sophie was not getting a paternity test, Hope said, _

_ “This is bullshit. This could be solved so easily.” _

_ “You’re no fun, you know that?” Josie asked her. _

_ “So I’ve been told. You know musicals aren’t my thing,” Hope said. _

_ “Oh please. You were tapping your foot the entire time during the first song.” _

_ “Was not!” _

_ “Was too!” The two of them laughed as they playfully hit each other with Hope’s many throw pillows. _ Josie felt a surge of pain, and Lizzie broke the spell.

“Jo, you’re really bleeding. I can’t keep doing this,” Lizzie said as Rafael went into the bathroom to get some tissues.

“You can’t stop,” Josie said, “I’m seeing so much. It’s all coming back to me!” Rafael gave her a tissue box, and she wiped her face. She almost gagged at the amount of blood on the tissue.

“Are you sure?” Rafael asked, “You don’t look good.” Josie’s head felt like it was about to explode, but she couldn’t stop. Not when she was this close.

“The more you ask, the more sure I get,” she told them, “Keep going, I’m ready.” Rafael returned to Lizzie, and the spell continued. Josie held in a grunt of pain as the headache continued to rage, and was soon transported into another memory. She was playing chess with Hope’s brother,

_ “Ouch big bro, I think you might be about to lose your winning streak,” Hope said, coming into the room and sitting next to Josie. _

_ “Hey you, I was wondering where you were,” Josie said while Marcel attempted to make a move that would delay his inevitable checkmate. _

_ “You know me, I’m always around,” Hope said.  _

_ “Yeah, I do. You know, Freya said you were working on a special painting.” Hope blushed, _

_ “I’m always painting,” she said. Josie laughed and asked, _

_ “Do I get to see this painting?” _

_ “Maybe,” Hope said, and Josie smiled. She couldn’t wait to see it. She turned her attention back to the game, where Marcel had just moved his rook to capture Josie’s bishop, but that opened her queen to steal his king. _

_ “I win,” she said triumphantly. _ Josie could see Hope looking at her with pride in her eyes. They were sitting so close on that chair together. At school, they didn’t even sit near each other in class. If Hope moved just a bit, she would have been in Josie’s lap. This was so weird. The memory progressed to later in the night. They were in a bar together, and Hope had to leave to talk to Marcel. Then a boy with blonde hair came up to Josie. Roman Sienna. Josie remembered most of this. He’d charmed her, kidnapped her, then Hope had come to save her. She’d been pretty out of it through most of it, but she remembered the gist of that day. Hope had tried to kill Roman, but Josie hadn’t let him. Josie hadn’t expected to see the spell bring back anything from that day, but it did. The two of them were in a car with Hope’s Aunt, Davina. Josie watched as she put her head on Hope’s shoulder. It stayed there for the whole ride. So weird! Then it showed them at the compound. Josie remembered that Hope and her had gotten into a fight, but she hadn’t remembered Hope coming to talk to her after.

_ Hope looked at Josie and said, “You know, you were wrong before when you said you made your choice because I would regret mine. Because the only thing I regret is that Roman is still breathing!” _

_ “If you believe that then you are not who I thought you were at all!” Josie snapped, getting up from her seat and facing Hope, “Because the Hope that I’d gotten to know, she had a soul. A good soul. Whoever this is doesn’t.” Josie threw a napkin on her plate and stormed out of the dining room _ . Josie watched herself go into her room and slam the door. It wasn’t long until she could hear Hope’s voice outside yelling at her.

_ “You know Josie you talk such a big game of knowing the real me or whatever bullcrap that was!” Hope shouted at her, “But c’mon, we both know the truth! You hated me from the moment we met, and the only reason you even attempted to be nice to me was because of yours and Lizzie’s little plan to get rid of me! So you don’t get to yell at me over what’s wrong and how I’m not being a good person when you don’t even know or like me!” The door opened and an irate Josie stepped out. _

_ “You have no right to tell me what I know!” she snapped back. _

_ “Oh really?” Hope asked, “Let me tell you what I know. I know you let Lizzie believe I started a rumor about her being bipolar which made me lose all my friends. I know you hatched a plan to get my secret exposed so I would have to leave Mystic Falls. And I know that the only reason you’re here right now is because you feel guilty!” _

_ “Hope you know that’s not true, I want to help you!” _ Josie could tell Hope was getting angry, she could see the veins on her face. Her fangs were slipping out.

_ “You need to go,” Hope said, turning away from her. Josie placed a hand on her shoulder _ .  _ She angrily shoved it away and yelled, “I said go!” _

_ “No, I won’t leave,” Josie said, “You know what, you’re right. I’ve been a terrible person. I’ve made mistakes, and most of them have hurt you. But I’m done going in circles with you, Hope. We fight, we’re good, then we fight again. I’m done fighting, and I need you to know that there’s nothing you can do that can scare me. You don’t scare me.” Josie grabbed Hope’s arm and turned her to face her. She saw a pained face with wolf eyes staring back at her. Josie moved both her hands to Hope’s shoulders and said, “Just breathe, okay? Everything is okay.” Hope shut her eyes and took a breath, “See? You’re okay.” Hope opened her eyes and asked, _

_ “How did you…” _

_ “Just years of practice with Lizzie. And my own experience. You’re not alone in this Hope, I’m here, and I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about hurting me.” _ Josie was shocked. She never would have expected to see her calm Hope down like that.

_ “But you should be worried,” Hope said, “My control, I can have it for one second, then completely lose it the next. I’m a ticking time bomb, and if I explode-” _

_ “Then I’ll still be right here,” Josie said, “And not because I feel bad, or because I want to clear a guilty conscience, but because I care.” Hope scoffed, _

_ “You care?” she asked, the irritability high in her voice, “You don’t care about me at all, you’ve hated me ever since we met!” _

_ “I did not!” _

_ “Yes you did, Josie! You’ve always hated me without even telling me why!” Hope said, angrily turning to Josie, the veins returning to her face. Josie still didn’t falter. _

_ “I never hated you, you idiot. I had a crush on you!” Josie shouted at her. _ Josie was taken aback.  _ She’d told Hope about the crush?! _

_ “What?” _

_ “I’ve had a crush on you ever since I met you. When we were twelve years old, and you were in town. I kept it to myself, until one day, Lizzie made a joke about me being obsessed with you, and I was scared she’d find out. So I told her that I could never be obsessed with someone who would call my sister bipolar.”  _ And the rumor!

_ “Wait, so that was why the rumor started? Because you had a crush on me?” _

_ “I know this doesn’t make anything better,” Josie said, “But it’s the truth.” _ Josie expected Hope to be mad, so she was surprised when she saw a small smile form on Hope’s face. 

_ “You had a crush on me?” she asked. _

_ “Of course I did. Who wouldn’t?” Josie asked, and Hope just smiled more. She walked up to her and said, “I’m so sorry. For all of it. If I could go back and change it-” _

_ “Maybe that’s our problem,” Hope said, moving her hand so it entwined with one of Josie’s, “Maybe that’s everybody’s problem. We all keep dwelling on the past when maybe…” She shifted her gaze so she was looking into Josie’s eyes, “We should be going forward.” _

_ “How do we do that?” Josie asked. _

_ “What do you think we should do?” _

_ “Well,” Josie said, tracing a finger over Hope’s chin, “From what I’ve seen, you like to be in control. So...you tell me.”  _ Josie was confused. She had no clue what was happening. A rush of pain came over her, and she was back in her room. Blood was dripping from her face and onto her sheets. Her breaths were labored, and she could no longer sit upright.

“I got you, Jo,” Rafael said, putting a hand on her back to steady her.

“Please tell me we’re done,” Lizzie said.

“We are definitely not done,” Josie said, thinking about the memory she’d just seen. She and Hope were definitely about to do something, and she needed to know what it was. Lizzie continued the spell, and Josie saw the rest of that night. She watched Hope kiss her with passion, and Josie knew they were both enjoying it. As Josie got the memory back, her emotions from that night came with it. The rush of joy that the girl she’d been crushing on liked her back, the endorphins entering her body as Hope kissed her, it was all coming back. And it felt  _ good _ . When that memory ended, Josie found herself kind of upset. She then saw Hope offer Josie the white shirt Hope had been wearing earlier in the memory. Josie recognized it as the same shirt she’d returned to Hope yesterday.

_ “What will you wear?” Josie asked as she buttoned the shirt up. _

_ “Maybe I should just put nothing on,” Hope said as she wrapped a sheet around her. _

_ “Fine by me,” Josie said. She climbed into the bed with Hope, and Hope wrapped an arm around her. Josie leaned her head on Hope’s shoulder, and it wasn’t long before they fell asleep. _ Josie suddenly found herself being jealous...of herself. Josie still had memories of the rest of the night. She remembered the attack from Roman, and calling her Mom. But what she didn’t remember was her moment with Hope after she’d hung up.

_ Hope hung up the phone and went to sit next to Josie, who was sleeping sitting up against the headboard. Hope moved some hair out of her face and gently kissed her neck. A small smile spread on Josie’s face, and she opened her eyes. _

_ “Hey you,” she said, “I’m sorry for earlier. I was bugging out for no reason.” _

_ “No, you had plenty of reason,” Hope said through the tears that were falling. Josie noticed this because she frowned and said, _

_ “Hey, what is it?” _

_ “You were almost killed twice in the span of one day,” Hope said, “And that never would have happened if you weren’t close with me.” _

_ “I mean maybe not, but I’m fine. Because I had you,” Josie said, “You don’t need to worry about me Hope, I’m fine.” _ Josie saw a pained expression on Hope’s face as she looked at the bruises on Josie’s wrists. Those bruises had healed now, but they’d been a bitch to cover up. Josie saw Hope give her a sad look, and say,

_ “We can’t be together Jo.” She said it so quietly that it was almost a whisper. _

_ “What?” Josie asked. _

_ “I can’t allow you to get hurt again. Not because of me.” _

_ “Hope I told you. You don’t have to worry about me.” _

_ “But I do. I worry that one day someone will come after you, and I won’t be able to get to you in time to stop them. And I worry that one day I could lose control, and I could do something that you wouldn’t like. I would have killed Roman if you hadn’t stopped me, and you know it.”  _ Josie suddenly knew what was about to happen. This was it.

_ “Well Hope, there’s nothing you can do that’s going to make me change the way I feel,” Josie said, “I want to be with you, no matter the good or the bad. Don’t you want that to?” _ She clearly hadn’t considering what she was about to do! Josie wanted to slap her past self.

_ “I’m sorry, Jo. Trust me when I say that this is for the best.” _

_ “That what’s for the best? Hope just talk to me, I don’t understand!” _

_ “You’ve been in New Orleans for days. There’s a certain herb that grows in Mystic Falls that doesn’t come around here. And I’m certain it’s out of your system.” _

_ “What are you talking about?” Josie asked. Hope held back the tears that were falling. She had to be completely focused for this. She moved Josie’s face to face hers, looked her in the eye and said, _

_ “You’re going to go home, Josie.” Josie, who realized what was going on, went, _

_ “No. Hope, you can’t do this. You have to let me help you. I believe in you, Hope! You can’t just push me away, I won’t let you.” _

_ “You’re going to go home, and you won’t remember anything other than the fact that I triggered my tribrid curse, and that you came to New Orleans to help me, but it didn’t work. I had to stay behind. You don’t love me, and this trip proved that. In fact, it only proved your point about me. I’m bad news. People from my past hurt us, and while you’re okay now, you know that you shouldn’t be around me. And while we were here, we never had sleepovers, we didn’t even talk. Nothing we did together tonight before Roman came happened. And before, we never talked in the woods, you never came to my house, we never ran lines together, or went to the grill. I’m just Hope, some kid from school you barely know, but you felt bad for. And now you’re going to go back to your family, and be happy. You don’t need me Josie. We aren’t friends, because you are so much better than this and me. So go, be happy, and totally rock that play.” Hope broke away from Josie. _ The memory stopped and Josie found herself gasping on the bed. She was bleeding hard, and Rafael ran to her, taking her gently and sitting her against the headboard while Lizzie came over to her and took her hands.

“Jo, are you okay?” she asked.

“I remember,” Josie said, “I remember everything.”

Josie Saltzman was a mess. It had been nearly an hour since they’d finished the spell. Her head still hurt, but not as badly as before. She was currently sitting in a tub of warm water. She was supposed to be washing the blood off of her face while Lizzie washed her sheets, but she could barely move. The water was slowly getting red from the blood falling into it. Josie knew she needed to start washing herself, but she couldn’t. She had no idea how to process what she’d just seen. The memories still felt like they were coming in, and Josie felt like she was losing a grip on reality. When the spell had been happening, it had felt like Josie was watching a movie. Like she was just watching something happen to somebody else. But now, she could feel that those were her memories. That all of this stuff happened to her. She remembered her and Hope’s night together. She remembered how good it felt. Before that, Josie had never done anything like that with anybody else. She couldn’t believe that Hope had taken that away for her. And for what? Because she felt guilty because of the attack? Bullshit! Josie could feel herself getting angry, but the anger did give her energy. She worked to wash the blood off of her body, and was able to get out of the bath. She slid into some pajamas, and went back into her room, where Lizzie and Rafael were making the bed with new sheets.

“Raf, you didn’t need to stay,” Josie said as she leaned against the door jamb. He turned to her, smiled and said,

“I wanted to.” Josie smiled at him. He was a good friend. She heard the door open downstairs, and their Mom announced that she was home.

“You okay going down?” Lizzie asked.

“I think I need some time, if that’s okay,” Josie said. Lizzie nodded and said,

“Take all the time you need. Your bed is made if you want to lie down. Here,” Lizzie took Josie’s hand and walked her over, “We got you the warm sheets too.” She helped Josie under them and said, “Whatever you need, we’re here, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks Lizzie,” Josie said. Lizzie and Rafael left to go say hi to Mom, and Josie could hear them tell her that she wasn’t feeling well. Josie laid down in the bed. Laying down helped relieve some of the pressure in her head, but she didn’t feel any better. She was so angry at Hope. She laid in bed for a while. She ignored Lizzie when she came to check on her. She gave Raf a quiet goodbye when he had to go, and she skipped dinner. She felt so stuck. Another hour passed, and Lizzie came to check on her.

“Jo,” she said gently, “Are you okay?” Josie shook her head, “Okay, that’s fine. Do you want to talk about what you saw?” 

“No,” Josie said quietly. She turned away from Lizzie and wrapped her blanket around her.

“Okay. I’m here for you though, alright? If you start to feel more sad-”

“I’m not sad,” Josie said, “I’m angry.” Josie moved the blankets out of the way.

“Where are you going?” Lizzie asked.

“Out,” was all Josie said. She didn’t care that she was still in pajamas, she needed to do this now, “I’ll be back in a few.” She grabbed her jacket and left her room. She slid into her boots that were in the shoe closet downstairs and left, ignoring Lizzie calling her back. The anger was surging. Hope had no right. Those were  _ her _ memories, and Hope had taken them away like it was nothing! She stormed all the way to Hope’s house, and knocked on the door very loudly.

“Alright, alright!” she heard Hope yell from inside. She opened the door, and when she saw Josie, there was clear confusion on her face.

“Josie, what are you doing here?”

“You had no right,” she said.

“Calm down, why don’t you come inside, we can talk about this.”

“No, I’m good here,” she said, “How dare you take my memories away from me like that? Do you even know the pain I just endured to get them back, hoping that there was some other explanation instead of the one right in front of me! That  _ you _ stole my memories. Did I really mean that little to you?”

“Josie please, just come inside. I can explain,” Hope pleaded with her.  _ Explain what? How she lied to her? How she took her memories without her consent? _ But Josie did go inside. There were kids playing outside and she would rather them not hear what she was going to say.

“How could you do that to me?” Josie asked the minute Hope closed the door, “We were friends, I remember it all. I cared about you so much, and you took it away! Like it was nothing!”

“Josie, I promise you. It wasn’t nothing. It was the complete opposite of nothing. The way I felt for you was dangerous. You remember it too, right? We were attacked twice in one day! None of that would have happened if we hadn’t been getting closer.”

“So you thought the best thing to do was erase my memories? You thought the best way to help me was to take away parts of my own life without my consent and just expect me to be okay? What kind of logic is that?!”

“Josie, you have to understand-”

“No  _ you _ understand!” Josie yelled at Hope, “I let you in, Hope! I told you everything that there is to know about me because I trusted you, and because I cared! I thought that even through everything that we put each other through, we were at a place where we trusted each other, and where we could be together! But I guess I was wrong to think that because it meant absolutely nothing to you! You used me until you didn’t need me anymore, then you hung me out to dry.”

“Josie please-”

“No! You don’t get to talk! I’ve spent the past couple of hours trying to wrap my head around what happened. I’ve been trying to find even the slightest bit of a reason for what you did. A way to justify it, I guess. But I have  _ nothing _ . Because there’s no way that you could have thought that this was the right thing to do. There was no way that you were even thinking about how I would feel, or that you took my emotions into consideration at all-”

“Josie of course I did-”

“I had sex with you, Hope!” Josie basically screamed, “Don’t you get that? I’ve, I’ve never done that with anyone before, and I felt so safe doing it with you. But you, you took things into your own hands, and you took that away from me. Don’t you see how messed up that is? I literally gave all of myself to you, and what? Did you not think it was enough? Did you not think that after everything, I couldn’t take care of myself? Or were you only thinking about yourself? How you felt bad, so you thought the only way to make it better was to take my memories, my feelings, my experiences-”

“You don’t get it Josie!” Hope said, “Can you honestly look at the past couple of weeks and say that your life was worse before you and I got closer? I mean c’mon! You’ve been kidnapped, fed on, attacked, tortured! None of that would have happened to you if you’d never gotten to know me, or started to care from me! You were all I was thinking about when I made that decision. I just wanted you to go back to your perfect life before. Can’t you see that?”

“Hope, how can you not understand that I was  _ happier _ with you in my life!” Josie said to her, “You have no idea how much fun I was having with you in New Orleans. More fun than I ever had before. And now, every good thing that I had, you have ruined because you made an assumption and acted on it with absolutely no regard to what I wanted, or without even giving me a choice!”

“I would never try to make a choice for you-”

“Except that’s what you did! You made the choice to get rid of  _ my _ memories without asking me what  _ I _ wanted! That is the textbook definition of making a choice for somebody!”

“I did what I did to keep you safe! Where I see it, there was no need to make a choice. There was one route to take, and I took it. You didn’t see what I saw that night! You were barely able to form a sentence, you were panicked, and terrified, and once the memories were gone, you were happy. You were smiling, you could breathe. Why can’t you see that I just wanted to help you?”

“Because you didn’t help me! Making me remember an attack differently or erasing a relationship I made  _ doesn’t _ help me! In fact, you did the opposite. My head has been tangled up in the biggest knot ever since I came home, because there were pieces of me that just weren’t there! I can’t sleep, I’m falling behind in school because I can’t focus, and I keep coming to your house because being with your Aunt is the only time of the day where I don’t feel like I’m going to explode. And that is all because of a choice you made for me. A  _ wrong _ choice! And you can’t say that you made that choice because of how much you care or whatever because I know that that isn’t true.”

“No, Josie,” Hope said as Josie turned away from her to leave, “That’s not true.”

“Yes it is. You don’t care about me at all. If you did, this wouldn’t have been the choice you made. You would have asked me how I felt!”

“No! I made the choice that I did because I wanted to protect you,” Hope said, but Josie had heard enough. She stormed towards the door, and as she put her hand on the handle to open the door and leave, Hope cried out, “And because I love you!” Josie paused. Her skin felt cold.  _ Love? _ Had Hope actually said that? She slowly turned back to face Hope, who had tears streaming down her face. She continued with, “I love you, Josie.” A beat passed, “Do...do you…” she attempted to ask, and the room was silent for what felt like hours before Josie’s expression hardened, and she said,

“I did.” 

“Josie,” Hope said, pain clear in her voice. Josie turned away from Hope so the girl wouldn’t see her own tears flooding her face, “Please. We can talk about this.”

“There’s nothing left to say,” Josie said, still not looking at the other girl, “You were too scared to let someone in that you denied me of my choice to stay by your side. And now you’ve lost me for good.”

“C’mon, don’t say that,” Hope said. She tried to get Josie to come back, but she said,

“Leave me alone, Hope.” Her voice came out quiet and broken, “I never want to speak to you again.” She left the house, slamming the door behind her. She walked down the pathway and passed the white fence, ignoring Rebekah who’d been getting out of her car.

“Josie?” Rebekah called after the girl, confusion evident in her voice. She watched Josie walk down the street, her face covered in tears. She knew something was wrong. Rebekah locked the car and went inside the house. She was going to call for Hope, but she was able to find her through the sounds of quiet sobs, threatening to become bigger. She saw her niece standing in the middle of the living room, with her arms wrapped around herself, “Hope?” Hope turned to her and said,

“Auntie Bex,” she said between sobs, “I think...I think Josie hates me.” Her quiet sobs got bigger, and she was soon a crying mess. Rebekah had been upset with Hope, and she knew her actions were eventually going to land her into this position, but right now, that didn’t matter. Hope was her niece, she was upset, and she needed her. That was all that mattered. Rebekah went to Hope and wrapped her arms around her.

“It’s okay darling,” she said, “Let it all out.” Hope cried into her shoulder, and she hugged her close, wishing more than anything for her to be able to just take all the pain away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Josie has her memories back! Next chapter will see both girls dealing with the aftermath of their fight as well as Hope slowly trying to earn Josie's forgiveness...


	19. No Good Deed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope's plan to help Josie lands her in some trouble, but presents her with a new opportunity

When Josie arrived home, she didn’t feel any better. If anything, she felt worse. And she hated herself for feeling worse! Hope had deserved everything Josie had said to her. And yet, she still felt awful. She lazily kicked her boots off and climbed the stairs to her room. Now that her anger had died down a bit and she wasn’t screaming at Hope anymore, she was starting to feel the pain from her headache again. According to her spellbook, the pain would be gone after twelve hours, so Josie still had some time. She was almost in her room when she heard Lizzie ask,

“Jo?” Josie turned around and saw her sister, with a concerned expression on her face.

“Hey Lizzie,” Josie said, “Where’s Mom?” She didn’t know why, but right now, her Mom was the only person she wanted to see.

“In her room,” Lizzie said, “She left some food in the kitchen for you if you’re hungry.”

“I can’t eat right now,” Josie said. She felt physically ill from her fight with Hope, “I just wanna talk with Mom, if that’s okay.”

“Fine,” Lizzie said, “But first, tell me. Where did you go? Did you see Hope?” Josie gave her a small nod, “What happened? Did she admit she did it?”

“She didn’t have to admit anything, I saw her do it when I got my memories back,” Josie said, “But yeah, we talked about it. Well, we fought about it. Look, I really don’t want to talk about this right now, I just want to see Mom.”

“Okay,” Lizzie said, “Just remember that I’m he-”

“Yeah I got it,” Josie said. She really wasn’t in the mood to talk to her sister right now. She left Lizzie in the hallway and knocked on her Mom’s door, “Mom?”

“Come in Jo,” she heard from inside. Josie opened the door and saw her Mom at her desk, working on something on her laptop, “What’s up, sweetie?”

“Mom, I kinda did something wrong,” she said. Caroline frowned, closed the computer, and said,

“Okay. What does “wrong” mean?” Josie sat on the side of the bed that faced her Mom and said,

“I think that Hope compelled me while I was away, so I asked Aunt Bonnie to do a spell on me to get my memories back, but she said I had to ask you and Dad first. But I did the spell anyway. Well, Lizzie did the spell on me while siphoning Raf, and um, I got a lot of memories back. I think Hope compelled away any good memory that the two of us ever had, and I’m not sure where to go from there.” She felt a tear fall, and Caroline grabbed a tissue box before going to sit with her. She pulled one out and gently wiped away Josie’s tears,

“I’ll admit, I’m not happy you didn’t talk to me about this, but since you were right about what Hope did, how do you feel?”

“I was really angry, I still kind of am, but I’m also mad at myself for getting angry,” Josie said, “I went to Hope’s house. I screamed at her. I’ve never screamed at anybody before, but I yelled at her for so long and so loud...I guess I was surprised by my own anger.”

“And that’s okay, baby,” Caroline said, “She took away your memories without asking you. You had every right to be upset with her. So don’t think for a second that your anger was unjustified.”

“I don’t think it was unjustified,” Josie said, “I was just a little taken aback. But anyway, that wasn’t what I wanted to talk about. I mean it was, but not all I wanted to talk about.”

“Whatever you need to talk about, I’m here. What’s going on?”

“The night that Hope compelled me, before Roman came to her house, she and I were together, and we uh, we…” Josie trailed off.

“You what, baby?” Josie’s cheeks reddened. She didn’t even think she wanted to continue, but she knew she’d said too much not to.

“We had...sex,” She said the last word in a quiet whisper, but her Mom was a vampire, so she heard. Her eyes widened a bit, and it took her a second before she said,

“Wow, that is, that is not what I expected to hear. Um, were you safe?” The confusion in her voice was evident, and Josie knew what she was thinking. Did two girls need to use any form of protection if they couldn’t get pregnant? And Josie was a virgin, so she couldn’t have given Hope anything. Unless Hope gave Josie something. But Josie kinda got a virgin vibe from her too.

“Well, there was nothing that we could use,” Josie said.

“Yeah, I know. I don’t know what I asked that. I knew this talk would happen one day, and I wouldn’t know what to say. I wish there was someone you could talk to-”

“I want to talk to you,” Josie said, “Please Mom?” Caroline nodded and said,

“Right, I got this. Um, okay. So physically, it’s not the same, but that doesn’t mean that emotionally, you don’t feel the same, right? So tell me, how did you feel afterwards?”

“Honestly, I felt amazing,” Josie admitted, “I don’t even know how to describe how good she made me feel. And now that I remember, I just wanna do it again. Oh God, I’m horny!” Caroline laughed and said,

“Oh Josie, you are perfectly fine,” Caroline said, “I’m glad that you are comfortable coming to me to talk about this. It really means a lot. And, let me tell you, feeling horny after your first time is perfectly normal. It’s happened to us all. In fact, the stories I could tell you-”

“Wait, wait, I don’t wanna hear that,” Josie said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna say anything,” Caroline said, and this time Josie laughed. It made her so happy that she was talking like this with her Mom. Even in those four days she’d spent at home with her after she’d gotten home, they hadn’t talked. At least not like this. Laughing with her Mom helped her forget about Hope for a bit, but not completely. Her laughing stopped, and a sad look crossed her face. Mom noticed this and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I wanna hate her,” Josie said, “I should hate her, right?”

“You don’t have to hate her, Jo,” Caroline said, “You don’t have to be happy with her, that’s for sure. But you don’t have to hate her. No one will be upset with you if you don’t.”

“Yeah, but is it bad that I don’t hate her, but I can’t forgive her?”

“Of course not. That’s completely fine. In situations like this, when someone you care about hurts you in a deep way, our emotions can be all over the place. And that’s okay. Maybe one day you’ll be ready to forgive her, and maybe you never will. That’s your decision, alright?”

“Okay,” Josie said, “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too Jo bear,” she said, moving some hair out of Josie’s face and giving her a kiss on the forehead, “Now how about we wipe those tears of your face, we get your sister, and the three of us watch a movie together. Sound good?”

“It does, but my head is pounding from the anti compulsion spell,” Josie said, “I really would just like to go to bed. You and Lizzie should go ahead, though.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, that spell tuckered me out anyway. I’d like to go to sleep.”

“That’s fine. Have you finished your homework?” Josie sighed and said,

“No, I didn’t really have the time.”

“Well, how about you go get started, I’ll make you a hot chocolate, and then when you finish you can get to bed. I’ll talk to your Dad and let you come in second period so you can get some rest.”

“No that’s okay. I don’t need any special treatment, I’ll be fine. But, I would really like that hot chocolate.” Caroline laughed,

“You’ve got it, kiddo. Go on, I’ll have that up for you in a bit.”

“Cool, thanks Mom,” Josie said. She got off the bed and walked to her room, feeling a lot better than she had earlier.

Hope looked up from her porch, and watched the kids in the yard across from hers play. They were playing a game of soccer. One of the boys had attempted a kick, but ended up tripping over his feet. His brother and sister laughed as they teamed up to take the ball. Hope smiled as they made the goal. They looked so happy. The opposite of her. The door opened and Rebekah came out. She held two steaming mugs of tea. She gave one to Hope, and Hope noticed the red tint.

“Is there blood in this?” Hope asked.

“Indeed. Blood-chamomile tea. A delicacy in these parts,” she said with a laugh. Hope smiled at her Aunt, glad she was back to making jokes.

“Looks delicious. Thanks Aunt Rebekah,” she said.

“No problem, darling,” Rebekah said, “Now, are you ready to talk about what happened with Josie?” Hope shrugged and said,

“Not really. I don’t want to think about it,” Hope said, sipping her tea. She hated chamomile, but the blood in it actually made it better.

“Hope, you had to know that Josie was always going to learn, right? This wasn’t something you could keep for her forever.”

“I knew that,” Hope said, “I just didn’t want to accept it.” She took a sip of her tea, “I was hoping that if she did have to figure it out, it would be because I undid the compulsion. Not because she did a spell. She must have been so hurt.”

“I know honey,” Rebekah said, “Did she say how she found out?”

“No, and I knew I was in no position to ask. But all that matters is she knows, and she is going to hate me forever.”

“She does not hate you,” Rebekah said.

“You don’t know that though,” Hope said, “At the end of our fight, she was walking out the door. I shouldn’t have said it. I meant it, but it wasn’t the time. Josie was so upset.”

“What did you say, love?”

“Just that,” Hope said, “I told her I loved her.” 

“Did you now?” Rebekah asked with a teasing smile.

“Shut up,” Hope said with a laugh, “I do. I love her so much, but she looked me right in the eye, and she said that she did. Not that she didn’t, but that she  _ used _ to. I really messed up, Auntie Bex. I had something-someone-so great. And I threw it all away.”

“Hope, we’re all entitled to make mistakes,” Rebekah said, “And once we do, we have to ask ourselves. What do we do now?”

“I want to make things right with Josie,” Hope said, “And I think I might know how to start.”

“Oh yeah, how?”

“You’ll see.”

“That makes me so nervous..”

“It’ll be fine, nothing too drastic. I really think it’ll help me move in the right direction to getting Josie's friendship back.”

“Okay, just don’t get yourself into trouble. It’s been a long year already without you going and getting yourself expelled.”

“Yeah yeah, nothing like that. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, darling,” Rebekah said, “This is a good moment for us. We get to start over, clean slate. Let’s try not to mess it up, alright?”

“That sounds good,” Hope said. Rebekah placed an arm around Hope and let her lean on her shoulder, and as she did, she continued to watch the kids. The boy finally made a goal, and his brother and sister started clapping wildly. Hope smiled. He looked so happy.

“What’s got you all giggly?” Rebekah asked.

“Nothing,” Hope said, “I’m just feeling optimistic.” She was going to get Josie’s forgiveness back, no matter what it took.

Hope left for school early the next morning, glad there was a morning practice. She had a plan, she just had to make sure it was executed correctly. She got there and saw MG painting the wall of the scaffolding. It was almost finished, which worked well since the play was in a week. She was about to go to him when she was stopped by Lizzie.

“Lizzie, hey,” Hope said. The taller girl did not look happy, and Hope had a good feeling about where this was gonna go.

“Hey? That’s all you’ve got to say?” Lizzie asked her.

“Look, I don’t know what Josie told you-”

“Josie didn’t have to tell me anything, Mikaelson,” Lizzie said, “When I saw the look on my sister’s face after all of those memories came back, I knew enough. You know, when you first moved here, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I was like ‘she’s just a nice girl from New Orleans’, let’s be her friend. Josie was against it, but I thought why not? But then, you started that rumor about me. And now, you compelled my sister without her consent. You hurt her, in ways that I’ve never seen anyone hurt somebody before. You are a bad person, Hope. And you’d better stay the hell away from us and our friends because none of us want you around. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Hope said. What else was she supposed to say to her? That Josie had only not wanted to be around her because she’d had a crush on her? And that Hope reciprocated those feelings? No, she’d never understand. And if Hope told her that it wasn’t her who’d started the rumor, Lizzie would not be happy. Lizzie nodded and said,

“Good. Now get to work, we open soon.” Lizzie turned away from Hope and walked off. Hope wanted to flip her off, but decided not to. She was just trying to protect her sister, she had a right to be angry, just like Josie had. But, that wasn’t what mattered now. She had a plan, and she was ready to do it. The plan was simple. All that mattered was that she didn’t get caught. Hope jumped onto the stage and went to MG. She smiled at him and said,

“Hey. How’s it going?”

“It’s fine,” he said. He didn’t even look at her. Hope guessed he was in the loop as well. And the look Rafael gave her a few moments later when she waved at him meant he was too. That was just great.

“Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Just get started on painting the other side. We need to be done with the bottom so it can dry before practice this afternoon, and we can do the top.”

“Cool,” Hope siad, “I’m going to go get some paint.”

“Yeah, whatever,” MG murmured before pulling out his phone and putting some earbuds in. This wasn’t going to be much of a talking practice. On her way to get the paint, Hope enacted her plan. She knew Mr. Williams was keeping the paint in a closet with the maintenance supplies. Hope went into the closet and looked around for the gloss that she needed. It was intended to make the stage shiny, but once it was applied, an actor couldn’t be on the stage for a few hours. It would be too slippery. Josie had told her that. Hope found the gloss and took it out. She went back to the stage and listened with her werewolf ears. They were running a small thing with just Clara first, and then a group number. They were running with Clara in ten minutes. Hope could gloss the stage, and once Clara slipped, they’d have to cancel practice, and no one else would get hurt. Hope waited for the crowd to clear out a bit before going on. She’d contemplated an invisibility spell, but it wouldn’t work for the gloss. The stage had to be empty. Once it was, Hope went on, and spread the gloss all over the practice area. When she finished, she did a spell to spread it, then went back to the closet. She was about to put the gloss back when she heard an announcement from Lizzie that she didn’t want to hear.

“Okay guys, instead of doing the scene with Clara first, we’re going to do it with everyone, then branch off,” she said, “So everyone get on the stage. MG, can you take a break for a sec?”

“Sure,” the boy said. No no no. This was so not good. Hope ran to the stage to tell MG not to let anybody on. She waved him over, but he ignored her. 

“MG!” Hope called. He still ignored her. Very mature. Hope ran some options through her head. She could do a spell, but then she’d be exposed as a witch. She could tell Lizzie...right! She could tell Lizzie! Except Lizzie was mad at her too...but that didn’t matter! Hope could just show her the gloss, and she would believe her. Hope dropped the paint can on the ground and went to Lizzie.

“Okay, everyone on stage, we’ll start now,” Lizzie was saying. Hope ran to her and said,

“Lizzie, you can’t do the number, there’s gloss on the stage.”

“No there isn't, I was just on it. Plus, the stage is never glossed until the night before opening. Now move aside, you aren’t needed.”

“No Lizzie, you have to believe me. There is gloss on the stage, you’ve gotta stop.”

“Hope, just stop. I don’t have time for-” Lizzie started, but was cut off when the music started, and instead of doing a dance, one of the boys went careening into the set tables, “Oh dear.” What happened next felt like a domino effect. Or just, like a literal row of dominos. One dancer fell, and then a whole line fell with him. But the person who took the worst hit as Clara. Two dancers who slipped both crashed into her. But she wasn’t the only thing they crashed into. The three of them all hit the scaffolding in full force. It was fine with just them, but as more dancers continued to collide with each other, they mae their way to the scaffolding, which wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Oh no,” Hope said.

“Don’t just stand there, do something!” Lizzie snapped.

“Like what? A spell? Someone might see!”

“Don’t you know anything subtle?” Hope wracked her brain for a spell, and she found one. It wouldn’t save the scaffolding, but it would stop it from hurting the dancers.

“Yeah, I’ve got one,” Hope said, “Take my hand, it’ll need more than one witch to work right.”

“Fine. But this does not make us cool.”

“We’ve never been cool,” Hope said, taking Lizzie’s hand, “Now repeat after me.” She told Lizzie the spell, and was glad to see that it didn’t take her too long to learn it. The two of them did the spell. The spell wouldn’t stop it from falling, that would make it too obvious. But it would make the giant set not crash on to all the kids. They would need to get a new curtain though. They finished the spell, and the scaffolding went down the opposite way, taking the back curtain with it. The crash echoed through the room, and made Hope and MG’s ears hurt. Hope surveyed the messed up stage and said, “Well. At least nobody’s hurt.” Lizzie dropped her hand from Hope’s and said,

“Yeah that’s great. Except we’re supposed to open in a week, and that set took you and MG two months to finish!”

“It’s fine Lizzie,” Hope said, and in a lower tone went, “Look, I’ll just fix it with a spell.”

“And how will you explain that to everybody?”

“I can compel them to forget all of this.”

“Of course that’s your solution. Not that it would work. Mayor Donovan has vervain put in everything, including the food at school. There’s no way it’s not in these kid’s systems.” Hope always had to pack lunch because of that. Lizzie was right. There was no magical way to fix this.

“Then what do we do?” Hope asked. Lizzie glared at her and said,

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough? You glossed the stage in the first place!” Lizzie snapped, taking the bottle from Hope’s other hand.

“I didn’t mean to cause this!” Hope said, “I just wanted Clara to trip and fall so Josie could get her role back.” A surprised look crossed Lizzie’s face.

“You did this for Josie?” she eventually asked.

“I lied about so many things, and you’re right, I hurt Josie, and I hurt her bad. But I just thought that if I did this, then maybe she could forgive me.”

“No offense Hope, but all you’ve done is make things worse,” Lizzie said, “Because not only is Clara hurt, but so is most of the ensemble. We have no set, we have to pay for that curtain, and Josie is no closer to being back in the play, so thanks Hope. Way to ruin things for the rest of us.” Hope had nothing to say, so she said nothing at all. Rafael, who’d been in the bathroom because he wasn’t in this number, came back and looked very confused at the sight of MG helping a bunch of people up on the stage, only to trip himself, and Lizzie and Hope glaring at each other.

“Guys, what’s going on?” he asked. Lizzie’s mood got better when she saw him, and she said,

“Mikaelson caused an accident that may have ruined the whole play.” She pouted, which made Hope roll her eyes, and Rafael laughed and said,

“Oh c’mon, I doubt it’s that.”

“Nope, it’s really bad!” MG called from the stage before tripping and falling again.

“We have almost no dancers left, and Clara’s hurt too,” Lizzie said, “Plus, with no set, there’s no way we can open next week.” Rafael opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off when the door opened and Mr. Williams came in.

“What is going on in here?” he asked.

“The stage got glossed and everyone tripped,” Lizzie said.

“The stage gloss isn’t supposed to be used until the night before we open,” he said, “Who used it on the stage.” Hope hastily raised her hand, but Clara cut in and said,

“Saltzman is holding it!” Mr. William’s eyes went to the gloss in Lizzie’s hand.

“Yeah, but I didn’t use it!” Lizzie exclaimed. She pointed to Hope, “She did!”

“Yeah…” Hope said guiltily, looking at her feet. Mr. Williams shook his head and said,

“Both of you go to Principal Saltzman’s office. Mr. Waithe and Mr. Greasely, help me take everyone to the nurse. Rehearsals are cancelled until further notice.”

“Why do I have to go?” Lizzie asked Mr. Williams. He didn’t answer her, he just pointed to the door. Hope was upset. She did not feel like sitting in the office with Lizzie, who probably wanted to rip her apart for what she’d done. She quickened her pace as she left the auditorium, and found herself sitting in her usual chair as she got to the office. The last time she’d sat here was two months ago, when she’d gotten sentenced to do the play. Oh how she wished it was that day again. Now she was about to be expelled, and Lizzie was in trouble too. Josie would probably hate her more now. Lizzie came into the office and dramatically flopped down in the chair across from Hope, giving her a glare. Hope averted her gaze, and instead focused on a loose thread in her boot. They both sat in complete silence until Lizzie said, “This is all your fault.”

“Trust me, I’m aware,” Hope said. She looked up at Lizzie and said, “Look, when your Dad gets here, I’ll tell him what I did, and he’ll let you go. Don’t worry.”

“Whatever,” Lizzie said, crossing her arms. Hope sighed and went back to looking at her boot. After a while had passed, Hope opened her backpack and pulled out her physics textbook. In the slight chance that she wasn’t expelled, she had a test first period that she’d nearly forgotten to study for. She was just finishing up with centripetal force when she heard a confused voice ask,

“Lizzie?” Hope looked up and saw Josie standing by the door, “What are you doing here?” Her gaze went to Hope, “And with her?”

“Long story,” Lizzie said, which was surprising for Hope. She honestly thought that Lizzie was about to go off on her.

“Dad got a call from Mr. Williams,” Josie said, “He had to rush over, and I’d been ready, so I came with him.” She sat down next to Lizzie, “Do you want a breakfast bar? Mom gave me extra.”

“Sure,” Lizzie said. She took a bite and asked, “Where is Dad?”

“He had to interview a new math teacher, but he said he’d be here soon,” Josie said, “I’m not supposed to be in here, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Lizzie laughed. Hope kept her attention on her physics textbook. She didn’t want her jealousy over the two twins laughing to show. Josie was barely acknowledging her. Though she had said she never wanted to speak to her again, so Hope guessed this was pretty on par with that statement. Josie got a text and said, “Oh it’s Mary. Weird, she said she’s in the nurse’s office. I should go check on her.”

“You really should,” Lizzie said. Josie got up, saying goodbye to Lizzie, but not to Hope. Almost right after she left, Principal Saltzman came.

“Hey girls,” he said, “Why don’t we go talk?” He didn’t seem angry from his voice, but as Hope looked up from her book, she saw a very disappointed expression on his face.

“I really do hate you,” Lizzie commented as she sat up from her chair and walked into the office.

“Feeling’s mutual,” Hope muttered to herself. She put her book away and on her way in, she gave one last look to the hall, hoping to see Josie. She didn’t, so she sighed before going into the office. Lizzie and her Father were already in an argument.

“Dad, I literally didn’t do anything! Yeah, I was holding the bottle of gloss, but Hope was the one who put it on the stage,” she was saying.

“Yeah, it’s true,” Hope said, taking the seat next to Lizzie, “Don’t get mad at her for something I did. This was all on me.”

“Oh I know, Mr. Williams told me,” he said, “And you and I will get to that later. That’s not the reason he ordered both of you here.”

“Then why are we here?” Hope asked.

“You know why you’re here,” Lizzie told her, “Why am  _ I _ here?” 

“Because you two both used magic at school, which I’m sure, given the circumstances you’ve all endured in the past few weeks, you know isn’t allowed.” 

“Oh,” Hope said, the same time Lizzie asked,

“Who told you?” Hope glared at her.  _ Was she really that dumb?! _ Josie would have never given herself up like that.

“Well, you did just now. And Mr. Williams saw you guys.”

“Well damn,” Hope said. Principal Saltzman gave her a look that said “language”, so she ducked apologetically. She wasn’t feeling in one of her belligerent moods. Not when everyone who had wanted to be her friend was ignoring her. 

“Dad,” Lizzie said, “None of this is my fault. I never would have needed to use magic if  _ Hope _ hadn’t glossed the stage!”

“And we only used magic because the kids would have gotten hurt if we hadn’t!” Hope said, “Well, a lot more hurt than they did get.”

“I know that, and I’m glad you used magic to help those kids. Really, I’m proud of you two for that. But with what happened to the council, you can’t use supernatural abilities in school. Especially you, Hope. If someone were to find out what you were-”

“All due respect Principal Saltzman, I’ve gotten this speech several times. I would never purposefully use my powers in public, especially with what happened to Raf and Josie. There are still some council members out there, and I know we need to be wary of them. So I’m sorry for using magic, but like I said, there was no other choice.”

“Okay,” he said, “Like I said, I know, and I understand. But this can’t happen again. Those kids will wonder why the scaffolding went the other way. We can’t have suspicions going around. Now I get that in a situation like that, you had to act. But that is why it is your responsibility to make sure those situations don’t happen.” He gave Hope a pointed look when he said that.

“Yeah yeah. I shouldn’t have glossed the stage. That was my bad,” Hope said. 

“Can I ask why you did that?” he asked her. Her face reddened, and she could see the smirk growing on Lizzie’s. She was going to love this.

“Well, I only glossed the stage because I wanted Clara to slip and fall. Because if she did, then there would be no one to play the part, and Josie would get her part back.”

“Oh, I see,” he said, “So you set out to intentionally hurt another student, just so Josie could be the lead in the play?”

“Yes I did. You can expel me if you want, that’s the truth,” she said. Alaric shook his head before turning to his daughter,

“Elizabeth, get to class. Your Mother and I will talk to you about this later.”

“So I’m not in trouble?”

“No, unless there’s anything else you’d like to talk to me about?”

“Nope. Bye Daddy,” she said.

“Goodbye. Learn something,” he said. Once she was gone, his attention turned to Hope, “So. You glossed a stage, hurt some kids, and caused a couple hundred in damage. Anything you’d like to say?”

“Only that I’m really annoyed my plan didn’t work,” Hope said with a laugh. Principal Saltzman didn’t find it funny, “And that I' put Lizzie in a position where she had to use magic. I know you’ve been scared since what happened to Josie, so I’m sorry.”

“I get that you’re sorry, but sometimes that doesn’t cut it.” He pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote some down a number before folding it up, “Here’s a bill for the curtain. You can take that to your Aunt when you get home.”

“Thanks,” Hope said, taking it from him, “Is that all?”

“No,” he said, “Why was it so important for you to get Clara out of the way?”

“Because I wanted Josie to get her part back.”

“Why?”

“It means a lot to her.”

“Did you do it because it means a lot to her or because you wanted her forgiveness? Caroline spoke to me about what happened in New Orleans. As your Principal, I’m indifferent. That happened out of school, and it’s not my jurisdiction. But as Josie’s Dad...I’m disappointed, Hope.”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot,” she admitted, “I may never be able to say how sorry I am, but I thought that if I could show it by getting Josie her role back. I was hoping that if I did, she’d forgive me.” Principal Saltzman nodded,

“I see. And now what do you think?”

“I think that I wasted so much time convincing myself that I was right, and that if I hadn’t been so stubborn, maybe she wouldn’t hate me as much as she does now.”

“I can’t speak for my daughter, but I think you’re going in the right direction with that,” he said.

“Does she?” Hope asked, “Hate me, I mean?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, “Josie doesn’t hate.”

“That does make me feel better,” Hope admitted, “Thanks Principal Saltzman.”

“Sure,” he said, “But there is the problem of you glossing the stage and causing the accident. Because of this, the show is on a definite pause. It took you and MG about two months to make that set, and we don’t know how long some of those kids will be out. There have to be consequences for that.”

“Yeah, I know. Am I expelled?”

“You should be. I did warn you, right? One more mark, and you’re out.” Hope nodded and said,

“I’ll clean my locker out and go then.”

“Hold on,” he said, “You didn’t let me finish.” Hope frowned.

“What else is there to say?”

“Every other time you’ve been in trouble, it’s been for your own selfish reason to get a rise out of someone, or because somebody made you angry. But this, I don’t know if you’re noticing Hope but you were putting someone else ahead of yourself. This entire time, you were thinking about Josie, and then you were thinking about the other kids when you did that spell. It was wrong, but it was almost selfless.”

“Really? You think that?”

“I do.” Hope smiled,

“So does that mean I’m off the hook?”

“Absolutely not. You can go and pack some stuff. You’re suspended for a week.”

“A week? That’s it?” Alaric raised an eyebrow at her and said,

“I can make it two if you’d like, but at that rate you’d have to go to summer school.”

“A week sounds great,” Hope said, getting up from the chair, “Thanks Principal Saltzman.”

“Don’t thank me. Take this week to really think about your recent decisions. Maybe along the way you’ll find a better way to help Josie.” A smile formed on Hope’s face.

“What if I said I already had?”

“I’m in charge of the play?” Josie asked her Dad. Alaric nodded,

“You’d be the director, since the current one doesn’t want to bother, you’d still have Lizzie on as your choreographer, and MG on sets, your lead Rafael is still there. The only problem is ensemble. You’re gonna need fifteen dancers.”  
“Yeah, and a new Davey,” Josie said, looking at the incident report, “Dad, does this mean that I get to play Katherine again?”

“Well I talked to your Mother, and she was against it at first, and so was I, but your new friend Rebekah Mikaelson spoke up for you. She said that you and her have gotten a lot closer, and she has complete faith that you can handle this.”

“Awesome! Thanks Dad!” Josie said. She couldn’t wait to get back to work. It was the perfect distraction from thinking about Hope.

“You know, Hope spoke up for you too,” he said. It was almost like he’d read her mind. Josie shrugged and said,

“Oh, whatever.” She decided that she didn’t care what Hope did. If she did stick up for her, it was probably another lame attempt to get Josie to forgive her.

“She’s trying, honey,” Alaric said. Josie shrugged and said,

“Yeah well I don’t care. She made her decision,” she said. She turned back to the binder her Dad had given her. It was a lot of work, but she could do it. She was ready.

“I gotta go to a meeting. I’ll see you after school alright?” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” Josie said. She packed up her stuff and left the office. She met up with Lizzie in the hallway and told her the news.

“Ah! That’s amazing!” Lizzie said, giving her a hug, “Maybe Mikaelson being a total flop isn’t the worst thing to happen today.”

“Yeah, too bad she got all of the dancers out for the rest of the show. And one of them was Davey. I need fifteen more people by the end of the week or we can’t move forward.”

“I’ll get you dancers. Mary will help me. Also, our Crutchie is out too. He can’t make the new weekend, he’s got a college visit.” she said. 

“Well damn,” she said, “Okay, do you think Kaleb would do it? He can sing, right?”

“Already asked. The lacrosse team has an away game the same weekend so he can’t.”

“Dammit, so that takes the whole lacrosse team  _ and _ the cheerleaders out because they always go with them,” Josie said.

“Relax, I’ll get you the dancers, don’t worry,” Lizzie said, “But for the Crutchie replacement, we’re going to need someone who really knows the songs.”

“Yeah, maybe MG can do it,” Josie said.

“I already asked MG to be the Davey replacement,” she said, “But, there is always…”

“No,” Josie said, “There are other people on the crew who we can ask.”

“But all those other people have other things they’ll need to be doing during the show. Plus, didn’t you say something about the two of you learning the songs?”

“I mean yeah, but I don’t even know if she can sing. Plus, she got suspended. She won’t even be around for practices.”

“She will in a week. And that gives her the time she needs. Come on, it’s what's best for the play. Isn’t that what matters?”

“I can’t work with her,” Josie said, “I don’t even want to see her.”

“I know, and I’m not asking you to. I’m the choreographer, I’ll spend more time with her. All you need to do is direct some scenes. You don’t even need to talk directly to her.”

“We can find someone else.”

“And what if we can’t? Jo, I know how much this play means to you. If you want it to go well, then maybe this is the best option.” Josie took a moment to think before saying,

“Okay. But this doesn’t mean I forgive her.”

“Yes, perfect!” Lizzie said, “Plus, think about it this way. We don’t even know if Hope can sing or dance. We’ll both probably get a good laugh out of this.”

“True,” Josie said, though laughing at Hope didn’t really sound that fun. 

“I have to go to physics, I have a test. I’ll see you after.”

“Cool,” Josie said. Lizzie left her, and as Josie was walking to English, she saw Hope pulling some books out of her locker. She watched her until Hope turned towards her, so Josie quickly turned away, and walked off as fast as she could.

“So when you said nothing too drastic, I didn’t think that meant injuring almost the entire cast of the play,” Rebekah said as she drove Hope home.

“That wasn’t my intention,” Hope said, “I thought that Clara was practicing by herself, so I only meant for her to trip, but then they changed things around, and now here we are.”

“Darling you really need to calm down sometimes, take things slow. If you get too extreme, the only person you’ll hurt is yourself.”

“Yeah, I think I’m starting to get that,” Hope said, leaning against the window, “It kind of worked though. Principal Saltzman listened to my idea. Josie got her role back  _ and _ she gets to be the director. And I still have my job working sets when I go back.”

“And that’s good, Hope. But you can’t get suspended again. I don’t know how many times we need to keep having this talk, but it’s getting old. You keep making promises that you can’t uphold. I told you I was holding you to it to not get into too much trouble, and you-”

“You said that you were holding me to not getting expelled, and I didn’t.”

“Hope for once can you stop being so stubborn? Please,” Rebekah added, in a calmer tone. 

“I’m sorry,” Hope said, “Really. I am.” Rebekah stopped at the light and turned to her,

“Do you remember what I told you last night? Once we make a mistake, we have to ask ourselves what to do next. What was your first thought when I said that?”

“That what I wanted to do next was something for Josie. I wanted to do something nice for her so that she would forgive me.”

“Sweetheart if that’s the reason you do something for somebody then that means your intentions were never pure. If you want Josie to forgive you, make them pure.”

“How do I do that?”

“I can’t tell you that. That’s up for you to figure out.” The light turned green, and Rebekah continued to drive. Hope turned away, and looked out the window.

“What if I can’t figure it out?” she asked, more to herself, but Rebekah heard and said,

“Oh my sweet girl, you will. I promise you that. You’re going in the right direction by asking Principal Saltzman to let Josie take over the play. That wasn’t part of your original plan. Now you just need to keep that energy going. Think about Josie, think about what’s best for her, even if it's something that you don’t want.”

“I will,” Hope said, “I promise.”

A few hours later, Hope was sitting in her window seat and drawing when she saw someone unexpected coming to her front door. Hope put her drawing down and went to answer the door before her Aunt could. She opened the door the second the first knock came.

“Lizzie, hey,” Hope said to the blonde on the other side.

“Hello Mikaelson,” she said stiffly, “I need something from you.”

“Okay,” Hope said, “Do you want to come in?”

“Nope,” she said. Hope stopped opening the door wider and instead stepped onto the porch.

“Then I guess I’m coming out,” she said. Lizzie huffed, “What do you want?”

“Well, as you know, because of your idiotic stunt this morning, our production is down most of its ensemble, and we’re going to need some help.”

“Okay. What does that have to do with me?”

“I need you to play Crutchie,” Lizzie said.  _ She was dreaming _ . Josie had told Hope all the roles of the play, and Crutchie was a big one. There was no way.

“Absolutely not,” Hope said, “Why can’t MG do it? Or you?”

“MG is playing a different role, and I can’t do it because I’m still a choreographer, and I don’t feel like wearing a costume and singing with an accent.”  _ Yeah, and neither did Hope! _

“Lizzie, I really don’t think-”

“Plus, this is the only way this play is going to work. And it’s been really stressing Josie out. She needs by the end of the week to get fifteen more people, or we’re shut down. For good this time.”

“Josie needs this?” Hope asked. Her Aunt’s words came back to her.  _ Pure intentions. Thinking of Josie first, and what she wanted. _ Lizzie nodded, and Hope said, “Okay. I’ll do it.”

“You will?” Lizzie asked, at first a question, but when she saw Hope’s confused gaze, she said, “You will. Practices start when you get back to school. Oh, and you and MG still need to work on the set, so expect extra hours.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” she said, “I guess I’ll see you then.”

“I guess you will,” Lizzie said. She turned to leave, and Hope asked,

“Did Josie want to come with you?” Lizzie turned around and said,

“No, she didn’t.” She then walked away, leaving Hope on the porch, with a lump forming in her throat. She swallowed the lump down. Her hurt wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was Josie, and if what Josie needed was Hope to put on a newsboy cap and sing, then that was exactly what she was going to do, whether Josie forgave her or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will have a lot more Hosie scenes, and see the two of them working on the play!


	20. I Love Play Rehearsal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope returns to school to work on the play, and Josie makes a terrible discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the support on the last chapter! It really meant a lot :)

Hope was in the living room sipping from a blood bag and watching a filmed production of Newsies when Aunt Rebekah came in with a not happy look on her face.

“Hope, what did I tell you?” she asked angrily.

“That you love me?” Hope asked, adding a cheeky smile. Rebekah didn’t find it cute.

“You’re grounded. I told you no TV,” she said.

“No, you said I couldn’t do anything that wasn’t related to school, but this is for the play,” Hope said, gesturing to the song she was watching, “Lizzie and Josie need me to know all these songs when I get back and I only have two more days.” Rebekah sighed and said,

“Fine, you can watch your songs. But no blood on the couch, I feel like I’ve told you that before. If it spills, the stains won’t come out.”

“We probably shouldn’t have gotten a white couch, then,” Hope said. Rebekah shook her head before going to sit next to her.

“You’re probably right about that one, love. But please eat in the kitchen next time, someone could see you through a window here.”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Hope said. Rebekah put an arm around her and looked at the screen,

“What exactly is happening here?” she asked.

“So, I’m supposed to be Crutchie, the one with the crutch,” Hope said, and Rebekah nodded, “And Crutchie just got arrested, so he’s writing a letter to Jack, Rafael, about what jail is like.”

“That’s depressing,” Rebekah said, “I thought this musical was supposed to be fun.”

“It is fun, but this part is sad. Not just because the part of the show is sad but because it’s going to be embarrassingly sad when I have to sing this in front of people,” Hope said. Rebekah gave her a wide grin and said,

“Oh I’m so excited! I bought tickets for the front row.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Hope said. Rebekah shook her head, “This is gonna be bad.”

“You’re going to do great, sweetheart,” she said, “I need to go into town. When you’re done watching the scenes, finish your homework, the school just sent it over.”

“Fine. Can you get me a grilled cheese from the grill?”

“Make one yourself, you really need to learn,” Rebekah said.

“You’re so mean,” Hope said.

“I know,” Rebekah said, “Get to it. I’ll be back in three hours and I want it all done.”

“Fine,” Hope said with a sigh. There really was no fun in being suspended if she still had to do homework. Then again, she wasn’t supposed to be having fun, and at least homework gave her something to do. Rebekah left the house, and Hope focused her attention back to the movie. This song was kind of hard. Lizzie said they would practice it when she came back, but Hope was nervous to sing in front of the other kids in the play.

“Where it’s clean and green and pretty, with no buildings in your way,” Hope repeated after the guy. That line had been the hardest. She couldn’t really get the accent right, and singing it was a whole different story. She then found herself repeating the word “Palomino” over and over again. It was really fun to say. 

“Palomino, palomino, palomino,” she said, stressing a different syllable each time. Hope had ridden a palomino once. Her parents had taken her when she was seven. Hope remembered telling Josie that she’d take her on a horse one day, since Josie had never ridden one before, “Palomino.” She added the New York accent this time. It sounded terrible.  _ Well damn _ . The song finished and Hope turned off the TV. She went to the kitchen to throw the blood away, and saw the stack of assignments on the counter, wrapped with a rubber band. There was a sticky note with her name on it, and a note from Principal Saltzman. Hope picked it up and read it aloud,

“Hope, please complete these assignments then mail them to the school by tomorrow morning. I hope you’ve been thinking about your actions. Best, Principal Saltzman.”  _ Best? _ What a nerd. Hope opened the folder and saw that the first thing was history research. She was too lazy to go upstairs so she did a spell to bring her computer to the counter. She opened it, and started doing her research on the Battle of Willow Creek. Her Father had told her most of what she needed to know about this, but his research wouldn’t much impress her history teacher, who didn’t believe in the supernatural. Research got boring soon, so Hope decided to go back to the play. She had some emails from Lizzie with script pages, so she opened a few and saw the highlighted lines. The first one was easy enough.

“Hey Jack,” Hope said in her normal voice. Now she needed to try the accent, “Hey Jack.” That wasn’t what she’d been going for. That had sounded almost Irish. Maybe she could look it up. Hope went to Youtube and searched for “New York accent.” It took her some time to get a good video, but she found it. It made her say a bunch of words. She had the most fun saying ‘sausage.’ She finished the video and went back to saying her lines.

“Hey Jack,” she repeated. It didn’t sound too off from the guy in the video. She kept going, “There’s a life that’s worth the living.” She still couldn’t stress the “worth” right. It had to kind of be sad without the r, that was how the guy in the movie had said it.

“Woth,” she repeated after the video, “Woth the living. Woyth the living. Woyth the livin’,” she finished with, dropping the g. Yeah, that didn’t sound bad.

“There’s a life that’s woyth the livin’, and I’m gonna do my share!” Hope was singing at the computer when her Aunt came home. She couldn’t hear her through the headphones, and was nearly done with the last verse when she saw her through the computer screen. She quickly ripped out her headphones and said, “Auntie Bex! How long have you been there?”

“Please don’t stop on my account,” Rebekah said with a laugh, not answering her, “I told you I’d be back in three hours.” Hope checked the clock and realized that three hours had indeed passed. She’d been listening to this accent tutorial for a while.

“Oh, so you did,” Hope said. She closed her computer and said, “I was just practicing for the play. I need to speak in an accent.”

“I can see that,” Rebekah said, “Homework done?” Hope’s face paled. She’d barely touched that stack of papers, “Hope?”

“Well, I was gonna start-”

“Hope-”

“-but then I got so enthralled in learning my role for the play, and you agreed with me earlier that it was school related, so I kinda was doing my homework in a way.”

“Go to your room,” Rebekah said, pointing to the stairs.

“But-”

“Nope. I don’t want you to come down until all of this is done. I told you, I wasn’t playing around anymore, go.” Hope sighed and packed up all her stuff. On her way up, she said,

“You know, this is probably the most normal argument we’ve ever had.”

“I know,” Rebekah said, “And I am proud of us.” Hope smiled and said,

“Yeah, me too.” She was about to continue up the stairs when Rebekah said,

“Wait!” Hope turned back to her Aunt and watched her come over to her and hand her a bag, “Grilled cheese. I was feeling generous.”

“You’re the best!” Hope said, taking it from her.

“Yeah, and when you’re done, I’m going to help you with that accent of yours because what I just saw? Pitiful.” Hope’s mouth dropped open.

“Excuse you! I sounded just like the guy in the video!”  
“I heard the guy in the video. You absolutely did not.”

“You’re so  _ mean _ .” Aunt Rebekah grinned big and said,

“Thank you darling, that means a lot.” Hope shook her head and turned away so Rebekah couldn’t see the smile that was starting to form on her face. When she got to the safety of her room, she finally allowed herself to laugh.

Hope was stressed. She was back from her suspension, which was great because she was able to get out of the house, but not great because it meant she had to sing in front of Josie. She’d been practicing her songs, and her Aunt had helped her a lot with her accent, but what if Josie thought it wasn’t enough? She was scared. Play practice was about to be brutal, because not only did she have to sing, she had to start working on the set. She was about to be at school all night, not that she minded since she was still grounded and was bored, but even the thought of seeing Josie was making her nervous. She hadn’t seen her in so long. She hoped she was doing well. Maybe she’d ask her at practice. Hope entered the theatre and saw Josie laying on her stomach on the stage. She was highlighting something in the script. Hope noticed the cap in her mouth, and she couldn’t help but smile. She looked adorable. It took her back to the first day after Freya had dropped her boundary spell.

_ One Month Ago _

Hope was sitting on her bed drawing in her sketchbook when there was a knock on her door. She looked up and saw Josie.

“Hey,” she said, “I thought you had homework to do.”

“I do, but there’s time for that,” she said, “Plus, now that I can come in, I would like to see your room.” Hope smiled at her and said,

“Well come on in.” Josie entered the room. Hope could see her Newsies script in her hand. Maybe they could run lines together like old times.That would be fun.

“Did you paint that?” Josie asked, pointing to the painting behind Hope’s bed. Hope turned to it and shook her head.

“Nope, my Dad did,” she said, “He made it for my nursery before I was born.”

“I like it,” Josie said, “It’s very beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Hope said. Josie looked at Hope’s easel and asked,

“Are you working on anything right now?”

“Not at the moment, no.” Josie’s gaze flickered to the sketchbook,

“Oh yeah? What have you got in there?” she asked her. Hope quickly closed it and said,

“Nothing for you to worry about.” Josie frowned at her and Hope gave her a big smile. Josie shook her head and sat on the bed.

“Do you mind if I work in here? I need to memorize some lines.”

“Absolutely not,” Hope said, “Do you need me to run with you?”

“No, but I probably will later. Do you mind?” Hope shook her head. Josie smiled at her and got on the floor. Hope watched her lay on her stomach and pull a highlighter from her pocket. She put the cap in her mouth after she opened it. Hope flipped to a new page of her book and started to draw Josie’s outline. She made sure to get the curves just right as she watched Josie highlight her pages on the ground. She was so focused that she didn’t even notice Hope’s gaze on her. Hope had just finished Josie’s outline when the girl looked up at her and asked,

“Are you drawing me?” The cap fell from her mouth, and it almost made Hope burst into laughter. She blushed and said,

“Maybe.” Josie laughed,

“You’re going to have to show me your work one day. It pains me that I’ve never seen it.”

“Trust me, you aren’t missing out on much,” Hope admitted, “It’s mostly just sketches and stuff anyway. Nothing too exciting.”

“It’s your work,” Josie said, “That automatically makes it exciting.” Hope felt butterflies in her stomach after that sentence. Those same butterflies she always got when she was around Josie. When she smiled or laughed, or looked at Hope with her big doe eyes. She felt nervous and elated at the same time.

“Josie, I love-” Hope started, then immediately stopped herself. She couldn’t just say it now. She didn’t even know if Josie felt the same way, “I love that you’re here.” Josie smiled.

“I love being here too,” she said. She turned back to her script, and Hope continued her drawing, feeling content. Maybe she’d turn it into a painting.

_ Present Day _

Hope was pulled away from the memory when a person shoved past her. She’d been so unfocused that the shove pushed her forward and into a chair.

“Ow!” she exclaimed. It hadn’t actually hurt, but she wanted the person who’d hit her to feel bad. Unfortunately for her, they didn’t.

“Mikaelson, we all have things to do. Stop standing around,” came Lizzie’s harsh voice. She walked away without helping Hope up.

“Bitch,” Hope grumbled. She pulled herself up and walked down the auditorium steps to join the others in the front. Raf, MG, and Lizzie were sitting together, but Hope couldn’t sit with them. She sat in the back by herself, and waited for Josie to start. When she did, Hope wished she hadn’t.

“Since Hope’s back, we’re gonna start with one of her songs,” she said, “We’ll do Santa Fe. Raf, are you ready?” The boy nodded and went to stand on the stage. Hope shrugged her backpack off and went to follow him up. This was about to be so bad. Hope was so glad she didn’t know any of the new dancers Lizzie had recruited. She’d gotten somewhat close with the old actors while working sets, and it would have been way worse doing this in front of them. Hope got on the stage next to Raf, and Josie turned to Lizzie and asked, “Lizzie, does Hope know the words?”  _ Wow, she wasn’t even going to talk to Hope directly _ . 

“She should, I sent her the music,” Lizzie said. Hope had practiced the songs in front of Rebekah every night. She could do this. But Josie’s eyes on her were making her nervous.

“Cool, I’ll play on the piano. You guys come in on your cue, okay?”

“Sure,” Raf said, while Hope nodded in agreement. Josie sat in front of the piano and started to play the tune of the song. Hope was glad she only had one line without Raf in this song, and she didn’t really have to sing until the end. He started the song, and he sounded really good. Hope could never sound that good.

“You just hop a Palomino, you’ll ride in style!” Raf said. He said Palomino with a good accent. But he was talking to her. Her line was up.

“Picture me, ridin’ in style,” she said, using her accent as best as she could. She expected a chorus of laughter after, but there was nothing. Josie just continued to play.  _ Was she doing it right? _

“Hey I bet a few months of clean air, you could toss that crutch for good!” Oh God, this was when she had to sing. But she knew the words. She could do this.  _ For Josie, _ she told herself. She launched into the song with Raf, glad that it was going well. He was smiling at her, but she was pretty sure that was only because his character had to. It was still progress, though.

“Work the land, chase the sun,” Raf sang, and Hope joined in with,

“Swim the whole Rio Grande just for fun!” This was it, her solo line. She took a breath,

“Watch me stand!” she belted out.  _ Shoot, was that too loud? _ She quieted her voice a bit for the next part, “Watch me run.” Hope looked to Josie for any feedback, but didn’t get much from her. She just continued to play, and Raf finished the song.

“Hey, hey,” he said. He put a hand on Hope’s shoulder. Hope knew they were acting, but it felt nice to have him close to her. She hadn’t gotten much of that from anyone besides Rebekah in a while, “Don’t you know that we’s a family? Would I let you down? No way.” God damn his accent was good, “Just hold on kid, ‘till that train makes Santa Fe.” Josie played the last notes of the song, and it was over. Hope took a breath. Would Josie say anything to her? The cast in the audience clapped, even Lizzie. But that was probably more for Raf than Hope. Josie smiled at Raf and said,

“That was really good. You made all the improvements I needed from the chorus.” Raf gave her a thumbs up before leaving to get some water. Hope figured Josie wasn’t going to say anything to her, and she wanted some water too, so she went to leave the stage, and was almost off until she heard Josie go, “Hope?” Hope turned around and saw Josie looking at her. She wore the tiniest of smiles on her face as she said, “Good job.” She quickly turned away from Hope to go back to working on the practice, and Hope went to get her water, the biggest smile she’d had in a while forming on her face.

Practice had been amazing! Hope was excited to go tomorrow. She was still there working on sets, but she couldn’t wait to sing again tomorrow. She’d done her solo, and it had gone well, but she still had to block it. With Josie. She was getting bubbly just thinking about it. Hope was drilling a piece of wood when there was a tap on her shoulder. She turned the drill off, pulled out her earbud, and looked up to see Lizzie.

“Time to go, Mikaelson,” she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Are you sure? I’m almost done with this wall,” Hope said. Lizzie looked at it and said,

“I suppose you can stay, but the lights turn off at 9. Be gone by then.” Hope checked the time on her phone. It was 8:15. She had time. Lizzie walked away, and Hope was confused as to why Josie wasn’t with her. Maybe she’d gone home earlier. Hope put her earbud back in and went back to drilling. She’d soon moved from drilling to painting, and was dipping her brush in the paint when she heard the sounds of the piano being played. Hope left the set and went to the piano where she saw Josie playing. The minute she saw her she turned to leave, but Josie had already seen her.

“What are you still doing here?” she asked.

“I wanted to finish painting, I figured I owed it to MG to put some extra work in since it’s my fault we have to start over in the first place.”

“Oh,” Josie said before returning her attention to the piano. Hope’s face fell. She’d been hoping this conversation would go somewhere. She turned to go back to her painting, but Josie stopped her, “Um Hope? Do you…” she trailed off.

“Do I what?” Hope asked.

“Need help, painting,” Josie said. Hope was a bit taken aback. A week ago Josie had told her she never wanted to speak to her again. But Hope wasn’t gonna knock a gift horse in the mouth.

“Sure,” she said, “I could use the help.” Josie got up from the piano and followed Hope to the set. Hope struggled not to stare as Josie unzipped her hoodie, leaving her in a T-shirt. Hope was a little disappointed, she’d been hoping for a tank top. Josie looked good in tank tops. Josie noticed Hope staring and said, 

“It’s hot back here.”

“Yeah, totally,” Hope said. She didn’t really get hot or cold, so she had no idea what the temperature was like, but that seemed like an appropriate response.

“I thought you couldn’t feel heat. Because you’re a vampire.”  _ Well know this is awkward _ .

“Uh huh,” Hope said before turning away so Josie couldn’t see her red face. She was glad that conversation ended there, and she could go back to painting. Josie was putting her hair up in a high ponytail, and Hope noticed her arms as she did so. They were a lot more toned than they’d been in New Orleans. Had she been working out?

“Are you gonna keep staring at me or are we going to paint?” Josie asked, breaking Hope out of her trance. Hope snapped back to reality and said,

“Oh yeah, sorry.” She went to her paint can and started painting one side while Josie painted the other. Josie was a lot taller than Hope, so she was able to get the parts Hope couldn’t reach. Hope contemplated asking for help, but she didn’t want Josie to think she couldn’t do it, so she ended up using her magic to get the paintbrush up. Josie noticed this and said,

“Can you not reach?”

“No,” Hope lied, “I just...like using my magic when I can.” Josie shook her head, and Hope could see a smile that she was trying to hide.

“Well, if using magic is allowed...” she said. Josie placed her hand on Hope’s shoulder and murmured a spell to levitate her own paintbrush. Hope tried not to blush at Josie touching her. It might only be for magic, but like she kept thinking, progress. The two of them used their magic to paint the walls, and it soon became a race. Hope was about to finish first, but she eventually slowed down, allowing Josie to finish just a second before her. She smiled and went, “Yes!” 

“Nice, Josie,” Hope said, “MG will be happy to see it painted in the morning.” Hope closed the paint cans and swung her backpack over her shoulder.

“Are you heading out?” Josie asked.

“Yeah, that was all I needed to do, and with your help I got it done twice as fast, so thanks.”

“Oh. Cool,” Josie said. Hope could sense some disappointment. Did she want her to stay?

“Oh, do you want me to…” she started to ask, and Josie said,

“I mean, if you want to. I wanted to work on your solo. You were good when you sang, but there’s room for improvement.” 

“Oh yeah, sure,” Hope said, “Whatever you need.” Her gift horse was really doing a lot of favors for her today. She walked with Josie to the piano and placed her backpack on top. She opened it and pulled out the sheet music Lizzie had emailed her to practice with. Hope couldn’t really read music, but Rebekah could, and she’d helped her a lot at home. She hoped with Josie’s help she’d get it perfect. She didn’t want to let her down.

“Okay, so when you sing the line “there’s a cool breeze blowing, even in July” you’ve gotta go quieter. You’re singing it at the same level as the one before and that doesn’t work.”

“How do you want it?”

“Like this,” Josie said. She played the note and started to sing, “Sleeping right out in the open in your penthouse in the sky. There’s a cool breeze blowing, even in July…” she lowered her voice and trailed off at the end. It was beautiful, “Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Hope said.

“Cool. Now you.” She played the note again and had Hope sing it. She did it again, but she knew she didn’t sound anywhere near as good. Josie stopped and said,

“Hope, you’re thinking too hard about this. It’s making you stiff. You did so well singing with Raf today. Just do whatever you were doing then. If there was a certain memory in your mind that helped channel that, think about that. Okay?”

“Okay” Hope said. She’d been thinking about Josie. About the cute little smile on her face when she’d been working in her script. She’d been thinking about how she’d wanted to make her happy. And she’d make her happy if she did well in this song. So she sang the line again. 

“There’s a cool breeze blowin’, even in July…” she dropped the g like she’d done with the other song with “livin’”, and she lowered her voice at the same time Josie had, “Well?”

“Awesome,” Josie said, “Can we run through the whole song?”

“Sure,” Hope said, and that was what they did. Josie stopped her a lot to redo lines, and Hope was actually having a good time. This song was sad, but she liked it. It was fun to sing.

“Fellas, not fellows,” Josie said, “You tell all the  _ fellas _ from me.”

“Okay, I got it,” Hope said, “Play it again.” Josie started the song, and Hope sang the line, “So you tell all the  _ fellas _ from me to protect one another.”

“Crescendo, Hope,” Josie said. Hope frowned, “Get louder. You’re supposed to be kind of yelling this.” Hope nodded. She remembered the guy in the video had gotten louder here.

“So you tell all the fellas from me to protect one another!” She sang out.

“There ya go!” Josie said, and it made Hope smile. Hope finished the song, and Josie said, “That’s really good. Practice when you get home. We’ll block it tomorrow.”

“Cool,” Hope said. The two of them packed their stuff and Hope asked, “Hey, do you want me to walk home with you? It’s getting pretty late.”

“It’s fine,” Josie said, “My Mom is actually out there with the car, so…”

“I see,” Hope said, “I’ll uh, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Josie nodded and left the auditorium. While Hope was upset they weren’t walking together, she was still able to smile. She’d had a conversation with Josie, and it had gone well! It was a win in her book. Hope put her music back in her backpack and left the auditorium. She couldn’t wait to tell Aunt Rebekah!

Josie was half asleep against the window of her Mom’s car, and she had to be gently shook awake when they pulled into the driveway.

“We’re home, baby,” Caroline said. Josie wiped her eyes and blinked a few times to adjust to her surroundings. She hadn’t expected to be so tired, it was only 9:15. But being a director, music coordinator,  _ and _ female lead was kind of hard work. She was glad Lizzie was still doing choreography. She couldn’t take on another thing.

“Sorry, I didn’t think I’d fall asleep,” Josie said as she undid her seatbelt.

“That’s okay. Why don’t you take a bath then go to bed? I bet an early night will make you feel better. You can even use my bathroom if you want.” That sounded nice. Her bathroom had the jets in the tub that Josie and Lizzie’s didn’t have.

“Sounds great Mom, thanks,” Josie said, getting out of the car. She pulled her backpack over her shoulder and walked inside. Lizzie was in the kitchen, doing her homework. Josie had finished hers during study hall since she’d anticipated a long night with the play. There were two halves of a turkey sandwich on a plate next to her. Josie picked one of them up and took a bite.

“Hey!” Lizzie complained. Josie gave her a cheeky smile and said,

“Sorry, I was hungry.” 

“So rude,” Lizzie said with a huff.

“What’s rude?” Caroline asked as she came in and took the other half.

“Mom! You don’t even like turkey,” Lizzie whined.

“Sorry,” Caroline said, but she still took another bite. Lizzie shook her head at both of them,

“Food stealers,” she grumbled.

“I’ll make you another one, sweetie,” Caroline said.

“Don’t bother, I finished the turkey making that one,” Lizzie said. Caroline wrote “turkey” on the shopping list while Josie finished her half.

“That was delicious,” she said, licking some excess mayo off her finger.

“Oh you little-” Lizzie started, but Caroline grabbed her and said,

“Hey hey, let’s not fight tonight, it’s late. Lizzie, we’re sorry for taking your sandwich.”   


“Even though it was delicious and I regret nothing,” Josie said cheekily. Caroline had to restrain Lizzie again and said,

“Josette Saltzman!” She tried to sound scolding, but there was a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Josie held in her laugh and said, 

“Well, I’m gonna go take a bath. Goodnight guys.”

“Goodnight honey,” Caroline said, blowing Josie a kiss. While Caroline and Lizzie talked about options for Lizzie to eat, Josie went upstairs and got her stuff ready for her bath. She was so excited. Mom hadn’t let her use her tub in months. Josie was almost out the door when her phone started to ring. Josie put her towel and pajamas on the bed and went to answer it. R. Mikaelson was flashing on the screen. Weird. She answered the phone.

“Ms. Mikaelson? What’s going on?” she asked.

“Josie, please tell me this is some kind of joke,” she said.  _ The hell was she talking about? _

“What do you mean? What joke?” Josie asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me. I know you’re angry at Hope, but this isn’t funny,” she said, “You need to take this down now. If more people see it-”

“See what?” Josie asked. She was so confused!

“Josie, come down here!” her Mom called from downstairs.

“I’ll call you back,” Josie told Rebekah. She hung up the phone and ran downstairs. She saw her Mom and Lizzie on Lizzie’s computer. They looked very unhappy, “Mom?”

“Please tell me you didn’t,” she said.

“Didn’t what?” Josie asked.  _ Why was everybody yelling at her?! _ She went to Lizzie’s computer since that’s what they’d been looking at and turned it to face her. Her face paled when she saw what was on the screen. It was her Instagram, but the post Caroline and Lizzie had been looking at had not been posted by Josie. It was about Hope. There were a lot of pictures, and they were all just making fun of her. Josie had no idea where these pictures had come from. They were really unflattering, but Josie knew they were edited. She’d seen all of Hope’s body, and it looked nothing like this! But that wasn’t what was important. Why would someone do this to her? And why would they use Josie’s page to do it? The comments were coming in like crazy. She knew she shouldn’t but she checked them. They were either making lewd comments about Hope or congratulating Josie for sharing them with the world. She logged into her account and quickly deleted the post, but there had already been one hundred likes and thirty comments. No wonder Hope’s Aunt had been so freaked.

“Why would you post that?” Lizzie asked after a moment of silence passed.

“I...I didn’t,” Josie said, but Lizzie didn’t seem to hear that because she kept going with,

“Is that why you were so nice to her today? So you could pull the rug out or whatever with this?” 

“Are you serious? You know I wouldn’t do this!” But neither Lizzie nor her Mom looked convinced. Why didn’t they believe her? She’d obviously been hacked!  
“I want to believe you,” Lizzie said, “But you were so upset about what Hope did to you in New Orleans. If this was some way to get back at her-”

“It’s not!” Josie snapped. She could feel anger surging through her, which Mom noticed, because she placed her hands on her shoulders and said,

“Hey. Calm down honey. It’s just that this doesn’t look too good for you right now. Just tell me the truth. I promise, I won’t be mad.” 

“I  _ am _ telling the truth!” Josie said, pushing her Mom’s hands off of her, “But the two of you clearly don’t believe me, so what’s the point?”

“Josie-” Lizzie said, but Josie didn’t care to listen.

“Forget it! I wanna stay with Dad tonight,” Josie said. She couldn’t believe Mom and Lizzie. They weren’t even trying to believe her!

“If that’s what you want, go pack your stuff, I’ll drive you,” Caroline said.

“I can walk,” Josie said.

“Josie, it’s late.” Josie opened her mouth to argue with her, but the sharp glare from her Mother made her stop. Whatever, it was only a ten minute drive. She stormed to her room and angrily packed up her backpack. Her head was reeling. Who would have done that to Hope? And why would they frame Josie for it? No one knew her Instagram password, not even her family, so she had no clue who would have been able to post that. She picked up her phone and called Rebekah again. No answer. She wished she had Hope’s number so she could just tell her. Maybe she could go over there? No, maybe now wasn’t a good time. But tomorrow. She’d talk to her tomorrow. She needed to make this right. Josie stuffed her books in her backpack and pulled her jacket back on. She went downstairs and saw Mom waiting at the door for her. She ignored her on the way to the car. They were silent for the whole drive. Caroline pulled into Alaric’s driveway, and Josie was almost out of the car when she was stopped.

“What, Mom?” she asked angrily.

“Hey, don’t talk to me like that,” Caroline said, and it was still able to make Josie feel bad. She and her parents didn’t fight often.

“Sorry,” she murmured. Caroline gave her a soft smile and said,

“Sweetie, we’re alone right now. Just you and me, nothing we say will ever leave this car.” Josie was confused, so she said.

“Okay…”

“I really need to know. Did you do it?”  _ Was she serious?! _

“For God sake Mom!”

“I just need to know!”

“I told you everything that you needed to know! I don’t know where those pictures are from, I don’t know who logged into my account, and I don’t know who’s trying to blame me! That is all I’ve got for you, Mom!” 

“I’m sorry, I just-” Caroline attempted to explain, but Josie was fed up. She got out of the car and let herself into the house.

“Josie?” she heard Alaric ask from upstairs.

“In the living room, Dad,” she said. She threw her backpack over a chair and flopped into a couch. Her head was throbbing and she needed a break. Her Dad came downstairs and said,

“Mom called and told me what happened. Did you-” he started to ask

“No!” Josie said crossly, hugging one of the couch pillows. Her whole family didn’t believe her. This was just perfect. Maybe she’d made the wrong choice coming here.

“Okay,” he said. That was a little better than Mom and Lizzie, “But just so you know, I’m going to need to talk to both you and Hope in the morning. This school has a zero tolerance bullying pol-”

“Then maybe you should be focusing your attention on finding out whoever hacked my account. I didn’t do this,” Josie said.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” was all he said, “Goodnight sweetie.” He walked upstairs, and Josie waited until he heard his bedroom door close before getting up from the couch and going to his office. She opened up his computer to go to the school directory, and she typed in Marshall. She needed to call Hope and explain. The number for Hope Marshall came up, and Josie typed it into her phone. She prayed Rebekah wouldn’t be the one to pick it up. She needed to hear Hope’s voice. The phone rang and rang, and right when Josie thought the call was going to go to voicemail, a familiar voice said,

“Hello?” It was Hope’s voice. Josie let out a sigh of relief.

“Hope, it’s Josie. Look, I bet your Aunt told you about what happened, but I promise you, I didn’t post those pictures, and I have no clue who did. I know that we fought, and I may not completely forgive you for that, but you have to believe me when I say that I would  _ never _ do this to you.”  _ I care about you too much for that _ , she thought, but didn’t say. The line was silent. Had she hung up? Oh God, she had. She probably thought Josie had called just so she could attempt to clear her name and get herself out of trouble. Oh God oh God oh God. Josie could feel herself heating up, and knew she was going to start hyperventilating, and she would have had Hope not said those three little words.

“Josie,” she said, “I believe you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is framing Josie?? Stick around to find out...
> 
> Also, for anyone who is curious, the two songs sung are "Santa Fe Prologue" (by Hope and Raf) and "Letter from the Refuge" (By Hope)


	21. Words Fail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie finds out who has been messing with Hope, and Hope has a bad experience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Contains some bullying

Josie started looking for Hope the minute she got to school the next day. She wasn’t by her locker or in her homeroom. Maybe she hadn’t come in today? That made sense. Considering all the lewd comments Josie had seen under the now deleted post, she would understand why Hope didn’t want to be at school. But she needed to see her. She needed to let her know that it was going to be okay, and that Josie had her back. Josie waited around the entrance to the school, hoping to see her. The bells for homeroom and first period rang. No Hope.

“Come on,” she said, “Please come.” Josie waited by the door well into first period, and she would have kept waiting had one of her father not come up to her and ask,

“Sweetie, why are you not in class?”

“Hope hasn’t come in yet,” Josie said, “Where is she?”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, “I talked to Rebekah last night, and she said that Hope was okay with going to school today. But who knows, she might have changed her mind. I can’t really blame her if she did.” Josie nodded and said,

“Well, then I’m going to go find her.” She moved to the door, but her dad pulled her back with her backpack handle and said,

“No, you’re going to go to class while I call Rebekah. We’ll find her, honey.”

“I can’t just go to class, Dad. She could be in trouble, or she could have lost control, and if she did, it’s all my fault!”

“It is absolutely not your fault, the only one at fault is whoever posted those pictures. And we’re going to find out who that is after I call Rebekah and we find Hope. Right now, the best thing you can do is go to class, and wait for me to call you.”  
“You’ll call me right when you find her?”

“Absolutely,” he said, “Go on, you’re already late.”

“Okay,” Josie said. She walked away from her Dad towards the hallway that led to her English class. She watched her Dad leave and go back towards his office. Once he was out of sight, Josie turned around and headed out the door. She was finding Hope. She decided to try her house first. She walked up to the familiar white picket fence and looked at the house. It hadn’t changed much since the last time she’d been here, not that she’d expected it to. It had only been about a week. Josie pushed the door of the fence open and went to the garage to see if Rebekah’s car was still there. It wasn’t, which meant Rebekah wasn’t home, and considering they had a lock on their fridge for security reasons, there was no way they kept their door unlocked. It was times like this when Josie wished she had her own magic. She’d have to find something to siphon to get the door open. She sifted through her backpacks, but the keys weren’t in there. Damn, they were probably with Lizzie. It wasn’t like she could ask Lizzie for them, she’d tell their Dad that Josie wasn’t in school.

“Okay Saltzman,” Josie told herself, “We’re going old school.” She went to Hope’s window and hoisted herself up on the handholds. She got to the window and looked inside. Hope’s room was empty, but the bed looked like it had been slept in last night, and her backpack wasn’t on her desk. Maybe she had gone to school, or at least she’d meant to. Josie saw that Hope had left her computer on the desk, so she opened the window. She’d remembered it had been unlocked when Hope had jumped out of it after feeding on you. Josie crawled through the window and landed in Hope’s room. It looked almost the same as the last time she’d been in there, except instead of white, the walls were a light lavender. Hope must have repainted while she’d been suspended. It looked good. 

Josie took her attention away from the walls and went to the desk to open the computer, only for her to get distracted by another change, which were the pictures on her desk. She still had the same pictures with her parents and other family members that she’d had the last time Josie had been in here. But there was a new one in a frame next to Hope’s sketchbook. It was of the two of them in Hope’s house in New Orleans. It had been taken two or three days before Roman. Josie had her arms around Hope, who was laughing. They both looked happy. They’d been so happy that day. Josie remembered it now. They’d had a competition against Freya and Keelin to see who could make the best banana cream pie, Josie’s favorite dessert. Freya and Keelin had won, because for some reason Hope had decided to hide her cooking abilities, but it had still been a good time. Josie still had whipped cream on her nose, and Hope had flour on her face.. She wished she could go back to that day. Before everything.

“Not why I’m here,” she reminded herself. She put the picture back where she’d found it, but now she was getting curious about the sketchbook. Hope had never let her look at it, not once the whole time they were there. Josie would just take a peek, then she’d open the computer and get to work. She picked up the book and opened to the first page. It was mostly unfinished sketches of places Josie recognized from New Orleans, and some from Mystic Falls. They were all really good, and Josie was hooked. Looking through the sketches felt like reading an actual story. Like every drawing was a new chapter. Maybe it was in a way. Josie kept flipping the pages until she got to the last one, which was a girl laying on her stomach, highlighter cap in her mouth, going through a book. It took Josie a second while she wondered why it looked so familiar until she realized that it was her. Even in her situation, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Damn you, Mikaelson,” she said. Hope did always have a way of making her heart melt. She closed the sketchbook and put it back where she’d found it. She couldn’t have Hope thinking she was invading her privacy. Though, she was about to invade her privacy by going through her computer, so did it really matter... _ no. _ The computer was to make sure Hope was safe. The sketchbook had just been her being nosy. She opened the computer, and was glad to see that Hope didn’t have a password. Probably because there was almost nothing on this thing. She didn’t even have a screensaver. She had a tab minimized though. Josie clicked on it and it opened up to a Facebook page. Josie had Facebook, but she barely used it, which is why she was confused that Hope had a message from her. Josie didn’t even know Hope had Facebook. Whoever had hacked her Instagram must have gotten into her Facebook too, and they must have sent the message. Josie opened the messages, reminding herself again that she was doing this for Hope’s safety, not because she was a stalker. There weren’t many messages in the chat. In fact, the first one had been sent around seven forty five this morning.

“Hope,” the message from “Josie” said, “It made me so happy that you believed me. You don’t even know. I forgive you for everything. Can we meet?” Josie knew she didn’t send that because she still didn’t forgive Hope for everything, even though she was so worried about her. Hope had responded almost immediately.  _ Really, she’d fallen for that? _

“Yes of course I’ll meet you. Should we go to our spot and make some flowers?” she’d asked with a smile emoji. Spot with the flowers. She probably meant Wickery Bridge. Whoever had been impersonating as Josie had no clue what she’d meant because she’d replied with,

“Let’s meet here instead. Ten o’clock...” The message stopped after that. Josie realized her impersonator had used a GPS and this computer wasn’t updated enough to display that. No problem, Josie would just log into her account from her phone. Josie logged into her account, only to see that the conversation had been deleted on her side. 

“Dammit!” she exclaimed. Her impersonator had really thought this through. Josie’s only hope at this point was to find whoever it was and stop them before they met Hope. She didn’t know what they wanted with her, but she knew it wasn’t going to be good. She was worried figuring it out would take too long, but the conversation told her all she needed to know. There was only one person Josie had told about Hope believing her. Josie closed the computer, headed back out the window, and ran back to the school as fast as she could.

Hope walked into the park that Josie had said to meet her at. She wasn’t sure why she’d picked this place over Wickery Bridge, but Josie wanting to meet made Hope happy. She sat by the Sheriff's bench where Josie had asked to meet and waited.

At Mystic Falls High, Josie was on a mission. She entered the school, and saw who she was looking for by their locker, texting someone and laughing. Was it Hope? Oh it had to be. Josie’s face hardened as she walked over to the locker. She grabbed the person and slammed them against their locker.

“Where is she!” She shouted at her sister. Lizzie, who looked completely freaked out, said,

“Jo, what the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t play with me, where is she!” Lizzie didn't answer, so Josie snatched the phone from her, expecting to see a conversation with Hope, but instead she saw one with Raf. He’d sent her a picture of a penguin wearing a sweater. That was probably why she’d been laughing. 

“Josie, I promise you. I have no clue why you’re mad,” Lizzie said. Josie slowly removed her arm from Lizzie’s collarbone.

“I’m sorry,” she said almost inaudibly, “I just thought…” but no, that made no sense. Lizzie had been the only one she’d told about Hope believing in her. And Hope couldn’t have told anyone except Rebekah, she really didn’t have any friends. And Josie doubted Aunt Rebekah was screwing with her. She turned back to Lizzie’s phone.

“Hey, give that back!” Lizzie exclaimed. Josie scrolled through Lizzie’s previous texts and her face paled. She turned back to her sister, who had a pained expression on her face.

“You didn’t…” Josie said, her voice almost cracking. 

“I wasn’t thinking,” Lizzie said. Josie shook her head before slamming the phone on the ground. She turned away and headed for the door, ignoring Lizzie’s pleas. She knew where Hope was. She just had to get there fast enough.

Hope checked her watch. It was past the time Josie had called her to meet. She looked down at the apology roses she’d bought for the girl and felt dumb. Of course she wasn’t coming. She’d probably thought Hope had sounded too desperate over chat and had backed out. Just when she was about to leave, she heard a voice go,

“Hey, Hope Marshall!” Hope slowly turned around and saw Clara walking towards her. She looked a little better than last time Hope had seen her. Her face wasn’t as bruised, but her foot was in a really big boot.  _ Oof, my bad, _ Hope thought. 

“Clara, what are you doing here?” Hope asked. She didn’t like the look on Clara’s face. She looked almost vengeful. She walked up to Hope and went,

“Aww, what do we have here?” She ripped the flowers out of Hope’s hands.

“Hey, give those back!” Hope yelled. If she’d been in New Orleans, she would have used magic to knock Clara to next week, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t do that to Aunt Rebekah.

“Aww, you even put in a little note,” Clara said. The way she said “aww” made Hope sick.   
“That isn’t for you!” Hope snapped at the girl. She reached for it back, but Clara pushed her away. She was a lot taller than Hope, and since Hope wasn’t using her strength, she easily fell. She could feel her wolf eyes glowing. She calmed herself. She couldn’t be exposed, not here. Even though she really wanted to rip into Clara’s throat.

“For Josie, I’m sorry for everything, and I hope this brings you one step closer to forgive you. Love Hope,” Clara read out loud. She pronounced the “L” like a “W”, and it made Hope want to slap her. She was gonna slap her.

“You shut the hell up!” Hope yelled at the girl. She pulled herself to her feet and knocked the girl to the ground. But just as she was about to smack her hand across her face, two hands grabbed her and tossed her to the ground. Hope’s fangs slid out, and she had to reel them back in before turning back around to face whoever had done that to her. She found herself looking at Clara, and with her was Mary, one of Josie’s closest friends. 

“Don’t touch my friend, bitch!” Mary shouted at Hope before giving her a good kick. Hope rolled over on the ground. She felt pain for a second before allowing herself to heal. She was getting back up when Mary kicked her again. She was planning on just healing herself again, but what would that do? It would expose her as a supernatural, and she and Aunt Rebekah would have to leave. But she couldn’t leave. She couldn’t leave Josie. So she laid on the ground, and she took it. She got kicked a few more times, then Mary held her up while Clara punched her straight in the jaw. Hope felt herself getting angrier, and she wanted to fight back, but she couldn’t. But the anger was getting worse. It wouldn’t take much longer until she wolfed out. As Clara punched her again, Hope thought she was going to lose it, when she thought of her. Josie. She could almost smell her vanilla perfume. She found herself slipping into a weird kind of contentment as she thought about the other girl. It almost made her ignore the kick in the chest she got from Mary before falling to the ground again. She blinked and looked up, seeing Mary and Clara’s shadowing forms towering over her.

“This is for Lizzie, you dumb bitch!” Clara said coldly before stomping on her hard with her good foot. Hope nearly screeched out in pain, settling for rolling over to her side instead and coughing weakly. She faintly heard as the two girls stomped over her flowers before walking away, laughing. Hope wasn’t sure what to do next, so she just laid there, let the pain overcome her, and let all the tears she’d been holding in finally fall.

Lizzie had been looking for her Dad ever since Josie had left. She was still a bit in shock over Josie’s outburst, which had been enough to show her how much Josie still cared for Hope. She’d really screwed up this time. She got to her Dad’s office, but he wasn’t in there. The secretary was.

“Miss. McMillan?” she asked the woman, “Have you seen my Dad?”

“He just stepped out,” she told her, “I think he was going to the teacher’s lounge.”

“Thank you,” Lizzie said. Of course he picked a place on the other side of the school. She broke into a run through the halls and made it to the lounge to see her Dad putting a phone down.

“Oh, it’s good to see you,” he told her, “I got off the phone with Hope’s Aunt and she can’t find her. Where’s Josie? Maybe she’s right and I should let her go look.”

“Josie isn’t here,” Lizzie said, “Daddy, I think I really messed up.”

Josie tore through the park as fast as a cheetah. She had to find Hope, she had to find her now before it was too late. She kept running until she tripped over her own feet and rolled on the ground. As she was pulling herself to her feet, she was about to start running again when she saw a girl lying on the ground by a tree with unmistakable red hair.

“Hope! Hope oh my God,” Josie said. She ran over to the girl and crouched down to her level. She pulled her up so her back was leaning against the tree, “Hey Hope, it’s me. It’s Josie. Everything is gonna be okay.” She gently shook Hope until her eyes opened.

“Hey Jo,” she said woozily. She looked awful. Her shirt had dirt from the ground on it, her mouth was bleeding, and there was a bruise on her arm. The bottom of her shirt had ridden up a little when Josie had moved her, and Josie could see a bit of a bruise. She pulled the shirt up and watched as the bruise continued up her abdomen.

“Oh my God, Hope! Why aren’t you healing?”

“I can choose when to heal, or not heal myself,” Hope said, “And if I started healing and they saw, then they’d figure out what I was.”

“Oh Hope, I’m so sorry,” Josie said, “I should’ve known.”

“No, there was no way for you to know,” Hope said. She started coughing violently. Josie took her backpack off and pulled out her water bottle.

“Here, drink some of this.” She opened the bottle and watched Hope drink from it. It wouldn’t help much, but hopefully it would help the cough.

“Thanks,” Hope said.

“No problem.” They sat in silence as Josie put the water bottle back. Hope broke it by asking,

“How did you know where to find me?”

“Lizzie,” Josie said, “Well, through Lizzie. Don’t judge, but I kind of broke into your room and saw your Facebook messages with my account.”

“Wow, stalker much,” Hope said, and Josie was worried that Hope was upset with her. That worry faded when she saw the small twinkle in Hope’s eyes as she smiled.

“Shut up,” Josie said, though she was glad Hope was able to smile. She looked pretty beaten down, “Anyway, I saw that the messages said that I was thankful you believed me, and the only person I’d told that to was Lizzie, so I thought she’d been the one catfishing you. I kinda went off on her at school, which was when I learned it wasn’t her, but I was still suspicious, so I looked at her phone, and I saw the texts with Mary. She’s been texting her for months, like before we even went to New Orleans. They’d talk about how I was drifting because I was spending too much time with you, and how Lizzie wished I would just give up on you because of what you did. She didn’t say specifically what you did, but enough to show that it hurt me.”

“Do you want to give up on me?” Hope asked.

“I’m here aren’t I?” Josie said, not wanting to give a straight answer. She didn’t want to give up on Hope, but was she really ready to let the past just slide?

“That’s not an answer,” Hope said.

“That isn’t the point right now, Hope,” Josie said, “The point is that Mary lied to Lizzie and asked for my password so she could post something about the play, and Lizzie stupidly gave it to her without asking me, and she posted those pictures. I should be mad at her, and Mary and Clara, and trust me, I am. But I’m nowhere near as mad at them than I am at myself.” 

“Why yourself?” Hope asked.

“Because I pushed Lizzie away. I ignored her feelings, and I made her turn to those two bitches because I wasn’t there for her. And I guess I led you on with that phone call enough last night for you to actually believe the person messaging you was me.” There was silence, “But, I do have to ask. You were so sure. Was it all because of the phone call?”

“I guess I was just hoping that you still…” she trailed off.

“That I still what?” Hope shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter.” Hope ran a hand over her face, and just when Josie thought the girl was going to cry, she just started to laugh.

“Um, are you okay?”

“Oh God, how could I have been so stupid?” Hope asked, and that was when Josie noticed tears were starting to fall, “I was so wrapped up in my feelings for you that I let my guard completely down. Those two are probably going to get a  _ good _ laugh at this.”

“Hope-”

“I bet they took so many pictures. I bet they enjoyed it too!” Hope added bitterly.

“Hey, the minute I get back to school, I’m talking to my Dad. They’ll be expelled, I’ll make sure of it.” Hope shook her head,

“Even if they are expelled, who am I to complain? I literally threw a girl outside a window a few months ago, and I’m still around. That wouldn’t be fair, right?”

“Hope, that was an accident. Clara and Mary planned this. They wanted to hurt you. That’s the way my Dad will see it, and they’ll be expelled. No fear, show them they can’t get to you.”

“Do you really want to get your friends expelled?”

“Clara isn’t my friend.”

“But Mary is,” Hope said, “Plus, I’m fine, really. I’m probably going to be living in a world of embarrassment once they tell everyone, but hey, nothing I can’t handle.”

“Who cares what Mary and Clara say? They’re both losers. You’re Hope Mikaelson. You’re better than them in every way and you have so many people who love you and would say the same.”

“Even you?” Hope asked. Josie frowned at her, “Love me?”  _ Oh. _ Josie looked at her feet. She wasn’t sure how to answer, so she decided to be as honest as possible.

“You hurt me, Hope. In more ways than I even thought were possible. And I have been trying for the past few days to see past it but I just can’t.”

“I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to justify what I did,” Hope admitted, “I would tell myself that you were happy because you didn’t have to deal with my baggage. But then after talking to Aunt Rebekah, and you, I realized that I was wrong. And it wasn’t because I saw that you were unhappy, it was also partly because I was.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that being with you made me the happiest that I’ve ever been since before my Mom and Dad passed away,” Hope said, “And I told myself that I could find that happiness again, maybe with someone else or something else, but what I had with you. That’s not replaceable.  _ You’re _ not replaceable.”

“Do you want to know the real reason I was so mad at you for what you did?” 

“Because I took memories from you without asking?”

“Yes, but that wasn’t all of it,” Josie said. She took Hope’s hand and said, “The real thing that upset me was that you were under some kind of mindset where you thought my life would be better without you in it. The fact that you thought that really broke my heart.”

“I thought I was helping you,” Hope said.

“Well you didn’t,” Josie said, “How could you expect me to live a happy life if you took out one of its most important parts.”

“I guess I didn’t think of myself that highly.”

“Well you should’ve,” Josie said. She let go of Hope’s hand to wipe a tear that had been forming on the other girl’s face. She then pulled away and said, “Of course I love you. I never stopped.” It felt so good to get that off her chest. Lying to Hope for all these weeks had been torture, but now that she’d finally been able to get all her feelings out in the open, she felt like she could finally be honest. And it felt so damn good.

“Really?” Hope asked, “You mean that?” Josie nodded and said,

“Yeah. I do.” Hope smiled big and leaned in, but right before her lips could touch Josie, a voice familiar to both of them went,

“Hope?” The two girls quickly pulled apart to see a concerned Rebekah running over to them, “Oh my God, what happened?” She got on the ground and immediately began looking Hope over. Josie awkwardly scooted away, hoping Rebekah hadn’t noticed what had been about to happen. She wasn’t even sure Rebekah knew how she felt about Hope.

“I’m fine Auntie Bex, really,” Hope told the woman, “I just got into an argument with two girls from school that’s all.”

“An argument? You call this an argument?” Rebekah asked, looking at Hope’s appearance, “Who were these girls? I need names.” Josie opened her mouth to tell Rebekah the names, but Hope gave her a look and slowly shook her head.  _ Was she still serious about letting them go?! _

“You don’t know them,” Hope said, “It really wasn’t a big deal. I just didn’t let myself heal because I didn’t want them getting suspicious.”

“Sweetheart this is a big deal, look at what they’ve done to you. Oh!” Rebekah said, wrapping her niece in a hug. It made Josie smile. Rebekah was a big, strong Original Vampire, but she could melt like mush if Hope needed her. It was adorable.

“I’m okay though,” Hope said as they pulled apart, “Josie was here, she helped me.” Rebekah turned to Josie and gave her a soft smile.

“Thank you, Josie. I know I can always count on you.”

“Yeah, always,” Josie said. Rebekah helped Hope to her feet,

“C’mon love, let’s get you home. You can lay down. Then I can call that school and get all of this sorted out right away.”

“Aunt Rebekah I told you, I’m fine.”

“You’re most certainly not fine,” Rebekah said to her, “I’m not going to let two little punks get away with messing with my niece.”

“I’m a Mikaelson, I can defend myself,” Hope told her Aunt. Josie laughed to herself. She had no doubt about that. But she couldn’t laugh for long. Mary and Clara had hurt Hope, and while they may have thought they were doing it for Lizzie, it all came back to Josie. She’d caused this. She really needed to go back to school and talk to Lizzie. Josie felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a call from her Dad. She had several calls from her Dad, and Mom too. She must’ve not noticed them while she’d been talking with Hope.

“I think I need to get back to school,” Josie told the Mikaelson women, “But Hope, I really think you should reconsider telling my Dad about this. They shouldn’t get away with what they did.” Rebekah nodded in agreement. Hope pulled at her backpack straps and avoided eye contact with both of them. Josie could tell she didn’t really want to talk about it, so she waved goodbye and started the walk back to school. She hoped her parents wouldn’t be mad at her for ditching. They’d probably understand though. Hope had been in trouble. Josie was almost out of the park when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Hope, “What are you-” she was cut off when Hope leaned in and kissed her. Oh her lips felt  _ good _ . Josie returned it and wrapped her arms around the tribrid. She hadn’t felt this elated in so long. She would have been content staying there forever, but Hope pulled away.

“No fear,” she told Josie. She gave Josie one final kiss on the cheek before going to join Rebekah. Josie gently caressed a hand over her cheek.

“No fear,” she repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie are in a good place, but the two of them will have a lot to work on moving forward so stay tuned...


	22. Good Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie deal with the fallout of the bullying scandal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains bullying and nonconsensual touching

When Hope and Rebekah got home, she was immediately going to retreat to her room when Rebekah took her arm and said,

“Nope, we need to talk about this.”

“We really don’t,” Hope said. Rebekah raised her eyebrows and gave her an expression that said “try me,” so Hope relented and went to sit on the couch. She kicked her boots off and pulled her legs in close. Rebekah sat next to her and rubbed comforting circles into her back.

“How did this happen? Tell me everything,” she said.

“I was getting ready for school,” Hope said, “And I got a message on Facebook. It said that it was coming from Josie. That should’ve been the first sign, we aren’t even friends on there, but I was so happy that Josie wanted to talk to me, that I wasn’t thinking about that. And then she messaged me a place to meet, so I snuck away from school after you dropped me off to buy her some flowers. Then I went to meet her, and the bullies came, and then well, you know. I really don’t want to talk about it, Aunt Rebekah. I’m embarrassed enough without having to relive it.”

“Okay that’s fine,” Rebekah said, “But darling, please know that nobody will be angry with you if you come forward, in fact, I bet Josie would feel a lot better if you-”

“I already told both of you, I don’t need to come forward,” Hope said, “It won’t make me feel any better,” Hope said, turning away from Rebekah. She heard her sigh and go,

“Whatever you want. Hey, why don’t we go and get some lunch, hmm?”

“I thought I was grounded.”

“Forget about that, let’s go. It’ll be fun.”

“Don’t go soft on me, Auntie Bex. I’d like one thing to stay normal,” she said.

“Fine. Like I said, whatever you want. How about instead, you get out of these dirty clothes, and we paint the garage like we were supposed to do this weekend. That’ll be fun, right? You can show me how to mix the colors.”

“Sure,” Hope said, “I’ll just head up and change.” Hope went to her room and lazily through her backpack on the floor before going to sit in her desk chair. She saw her computer on the desk. Josie had moved it from its original spot. She opened it and saw the Facebook conversation. She quickly exited out, but not before going on Josie’s page and hitting the request button. Her account got a notification almost right after. Request accepted.

Josie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the Lazy Boy in her Dad’s living room. It was so old that it reclined without her having to pull the lever. 

“Josie,” Mom said.

“What?” Josie asked. The woman just shook her head. The two of them had been sitting in silence for the past half hour. When Josie had returned to school after she’d left Hope, she hadn’t expected to get sent home, but here she was with her Mom, waiting for Lizzie and Dad to come back. She wasn’t sure how much, but she knew Lizzie was in trouble. Not that Josie cared though. She was angry with her sister, that much she knew.

“Are you hungry?” Caroline asked after a few minutes passed.

“No,” Josie said. She was brimming with a slew of emotions, and there was no way she could focus on food. She was angry at Lizzie, but she was also almost euphoric over what had happened with Hope. She kissed her. And Josie had liked it. She was feeling the same way she’d felt after their night together in New Orleans. She wanted to be with her, not stuck at this stupid family meeting where her parents would force her to listen to Lizzie’s side of the story and forgive her, but after seeing Hope on the ground like that, she wasn’t sure she could. Just when she thought she was going to lose it, the door to the house opened, and Dad came in with Lizzie behind.

“Hey sweetie,” Caroline said to her daughter, at the same time Josie asked,

“What the hell took so long?”

“Just calm down Josie,” Alaric said, “Elizabeth go sit down, I need to talk to your Mother.” Lizzie sat on the couch next to Josie, and Josie turned away. She had no want to talk to her sister, she wanted to see Hope. Nothing was stopping her. Mom and Dad had left the room. But they’d see her leave through the window, and Mom could use her vampire speed to stop her, and that would just be embarrassing. So she settled for ignoring Lizzie and picking at her cuticles. She really needed to get a manicure one of these days.

“Jo, will you please talk to me?” Lizzie asked her.  _ No, she would not,  _ “Look, I get that your mad, and you have every right to be, but don’t act like I was the one who was directly bullying Hope. I didn’t even know what they were planning, I swear it!” Josie remained quiet, “And I wasn’t lying to you when I said that I didn’t know why you were mad, I really didn’t! And-”

“You lied last night,” Josie said with a cold tone. Still refusing to look at Lizzie, she said, “You lied when you asked if I was the one who posted those awful pictures, when you knew all along. You had to know, right? You gave them the password.”

“I had no reason to think they’d do anything like that, honest,” Lizzie said, “I told them I was upset about you getting closer to Hope, but it wasn’t like they were blatantly saying they were going to go after her. And I had no clue what they were planning today, there was no way I could’ve stopped it!”

“You could have told me about the password,” Josie said, “That would have at least given me something to tell Hope. Instead, you kept your mouth shut, and kept talking to them. You even told them that Hope believed I was innocent, which set up the perfect plan for them to lure Hope away from school by lying that I wanted to meet. So yeah, you could have fucking stopped it!” She turned to look at Lizzie when she said that, and Lizzie looked a little taken aback by the malice in Josie’s face.

“Girls, that’s enough,” came their Dad’s voice at probably the best time, because that fight was definitely about to get ugly. Josie recrossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair so she could look at her parents without looking at Lizzie. Mom sat on the couch next to Lizzie while Dad sat on the couch’s armrest. Usually during family meetings Lizzie and Josie shared the Lazy Boy while their parents sat on the couch, but Josie wasn’t in a sharing mood.

“Now that we’re all here,” Alaric continued, “I thought that we should let you know that Clara and Mary have been suspended until further notice. If Hope comes forward, we can talk about expulsion, but since she hasn’t-”

“Shouldn’t Lizzie be suspended too?” Josie asked, “This is all her fault.”

“Josie, your sister wasn’t one of the two girls who attacked your friend this afternoon,” Alaric said, “There’s no reason for suspension.”

“Whatever,” Josie grumbled. This was so unfair! Nobody seemed to care at all that Hope had been hurt, even Hope! The thought was making Josie’s blood boil.

“That being said, we do need to talk about last night,” Caroline said. She looked at Lizzie and said, “You should have said something when we saw the post.”

“I know,” Lizzie said, “And I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I was so wrapped up in myself that I didn’t even realize the bigger picture.”

“Yeah, you didn’t!” Josie snapped bitterly.

“Will you please just let me explain?” Josie rolled her eyes,

“Explain what? How you gave Mary my password and allowed her to spread around all of that stuff about Hope. That picture had dozens of likes and comments before I took it down! People at school are going to be talking about it for days.”

“I didn’t think she would use your account to do that! She said she wanted to post something about the play, and she’s your friend so I had no reason to believe she wasn’t being honest.”

“If she was being honest then she would have just asked  _ me _ for the password! She asked you because she knew I’d find it weird and you wouldn’t. I bet you got a good laugh from what she posted, too. You’ve never even liked Hope, you hated that I was spending time with her-”

“Josie, that’s not true. I was jealous at first, but I would never intentionally try to hurt Hope.” Josie laughed, “What?”

“Never intentionally want to hurt Hope? You were the one that came up with the plan to get rid of her. Or have you forgotten about that?” Josie asked.

“Wait hold on, what plan?” Caroline asked, but both girls ignored her.

“Oh no, you don’t get to go there! You were just as complicit in that plan as I were, maybe even more since you were the one stringing her along!” Lizzie snapped, getting up from the couch. Josie got out of her chair and fired back with,   


“Because  _ you _ asked me too! I was having doubts, I wanted to stop.”   


“But you didn’t, not until it was too late. You don’t get to blame me for the dumb plan, that isn’t fair!” Lizzie snapped.

“I can if I was willing to stop and you weren’t. Even when I came back with no memories, you told me you still wanted to do the plan!”

“And then I realized it was wrong because you were hurting, and you weren’t thinking straight.”

“Not wrong enough for you to text Mary and talk about how much you hated Hope. They might have been the ones to go after it but  _ you _ fueled it!” 

“No I didn’t!” Lizzie snapped, and she shoved Josie back a bit when she said that.

“Elizabeth!” Mom snapped. Josie’s eyes narrowed, and she pushed her sister back When Lizzie launched herself at Josie after that, their parents had to get involved. Alaric took Lizzie while Caroline took Josie.

“Both of you knock it off!” Alaric shouted.

“She started it!” Josie complained, “All of this is her fault!”   


“I’ve tried to apologize to you for  _ everything _ !” Lizzie snapped, “What’s it going to take for you to see that I didn’t want this to happen!”

“Tried to apologize?” Josie asked in a quiet tone. She raised her voice, “Tried to apologize?! All you’ve done since you got here was try to make me see your point of view. If you actually felt sorry, I would be able to tell, but you don’t because you know that I’m right and this is all your fault!”

“Screw you, Josie!” Lizzie snapped.

“Enough!” Caroline said, and her shout was definitely scarier than Alaric’s. Both girls stopped struggling and relaxed, “We’re going to let go now. Are you two gonna behave?” Both girls nodded, and they were released. Josie rolled her shoulders and stared at her sister, who wore an angry expression.  _ The hell does she have to be angry about?! _ Josie knew she was right, and Lizzie had to know too.

“Both of you sit down,” Alaric said. The two sisters sat on the couch, and made a show of shifting as far away as possible from each other, “Now, let’s talk about this plan the two of you were talking about. Where did that come from?” He got no answer.

“Nobody is leaving this room until you tell us,” Caroline said.  _ Screw this, I just want to see Hope!,  _ Josie thought. But she knew that wouldn’t happen unless they talked, so she started.

“The night I got in trouble for using magic on MG, I went on that walk,” she said, “And when I was in the woods, I did a spell. It was a fire spell, and the fire hit an animal. I went to see if the animal was okay, which was when I saw it turn back into a human. Into Hope.”

“So that was when you found out she was a wolf. Not when Rebekah told you,” Alaric said. Josie nodded and continued with,

“Lizzie, as you guys already know, knew that Hope was a witch. And since I’d seen her as a werewolf, we realized she wasn’t just any supernatural. So we made a plan where I’d pretend to get close to her until I learned about her family, and then when we’d learned enough-”

“We’d blackmail her into leaving town,” Lizzie finished for her, and Josie was glad she had. She hadn’t felt like admitting that part out loud. Alaric and Caroline looked absolutely appalled.

“So, just to make sure I’m getting this straight, the two of you took advantage of Hope’s trust, strung her along for weeks, and you never told her any of this?” he asked her.

“We kind of told her,” Lizzie said, “Well, Josie did. She overheard, which is why she ran away. Then Josie followed her and got kidnapped.”

“Dear God,” Alaric said.

“We talked about it when we were in New Orleans. She forgave me, I apologized,” Josie said, “Then when she took my memories, we both had something to be upset about I guess. I still feel bad about it, though. I had doubts for most of it...but not at the beginning.” Josie had never admitted that before. She truly had wanted Hope gone when they’d started the plan, and Hope had known that. That was probably why Hope hadn’t given much regard to Josie either. It brought Josie back to her first kiss with the girl. Hope had been rude, she’d said many mean things, and Josie had known that Hope had meant all of it. Everything had been such a mess back there. But Josie didn’t want things to be messy anymore. She loved Hope, even through everything.

“Well I for one am disappointed in both of you. Hope has been through a lot, and just when she was trying to turn things around for herself here, you both plotted to get her to leave,” Alaric said, “And we will be coming back to this. Right now, let’s focus on what happened today with Hope. Elizabeth, you should have told your Mother that you gave your sister’s passwords out to other people. I know you didn’t mean to hurt her, but if you’d come forward, we could have called Mary and Clara in, and all of this could have been avoided.”  _ Exactly!  _ That’s what Josie had been thinking all along.

“You’re right. All of you are,” Lizzie said after some silence, “I was wrong.” She looked at Josie and said, “I’m sorry. Really, I am.” Josie shrugged and turned away from her. She couldn’t forgive Lizzie, not yet. Her parents were looking at her expectantly, as if they were expecting her to do just that.

“What is everyone looking at me for?” Josie asked after it got weird, “I get it, you’re sorry, But you didn’t see Hope on the ground in that park. She couldn’t let herself heal because people can’t know what she is. She has to come to school tomorrow covered in bruises so people don’t get suspicious. And then she’ll have to deal with taunts from all these people who saw that post and probably forwarded it to all of their friends. Do you know how many creeps came up to me this morning to congratulate me? One of them thanked me for giving them something to get off on,” Josie told her sister, whose face had now pinched in disgust, “So I can’t forgive you, not right now.”

“Jo-”

“I can’t be here, I need to see Hope.”

“That might not be the best idea right now,” Alaric said, “I think right now she’s going to need to take some time to herself. You can see her at school in the morning.”

“I can’t wait that long.”

“We’re not asking,” Caroline said. Josie refrained from rolling her eyes and said,

“Fine. But I don’t want to be with her,” Josie said, shooting Lizzie a glare.

“If that’s what you want, fine,” Alaric said, “You two can decide whose house you wanna be at.”

“I’ll go home with Mom,” Lizzie told her sister.

“Whatever,” Josie said, crossing her arms. She looked at her Dad and said, “Can I please go to my room?” He sighed and said,

“Sweetie, you can’t stay angry forever. I know Hope wouldn’t want that.” He wasn’t wrong. Hope hadn’t wanted Clara and Mary to be expelled. She’d probably be upset with Josie if she knew she wasn’t forgiving Lizzie. But right now, she needed to be angry. She was angry.

“Please?” Josie asked again. Alaric nodded, and Josie got up from the couch, grabbing her backpack before heading up the stairs. She could still hear her family talking downstairs, so she shut her bedroom door. She needed to tune them out, she didn’t want to think about this. She just wanted to talk to Hope. She pulled her computer up and went to her Facebook. She and Hope were friends now, she could message her. But would Hope believe it was her? She’d find out. She started the chat by simply saying “Hey.” It was a while before Hope responded with,

“Hey. Is this my friend, Josie?” Josie smiled and responded with,

“Of course. Maybe we can meet at our special place, make some flowers, and I can prove it.”

“Definitely sounds more fun than painting my garage,” Hope responded with, “But maybe you could come over and help.”

“I wish I could. But Dad says you probably need some time to yourself.”

“Boo,” Hope said, “Tell him I wanna see you.”

“I don’t think I have much good will with him right now to tell him that,” Josie admitted. Both her parents had looked really mad when she and Lizzie had told them about the plan, and she knew she wasn’t done hearing the end of that yet.

“Aww no,” Hope said, “What happened?”

“Let’s just say, I was offered a lot of bad choices, and I should’ve said no,” Josie said, “I’m sorry. For everything that I did to you.”

“Josie, I love you. You never need to apologize to me,” was Hope’s reply. Josie felt almost taken aback. She hadn’t been expecting that. Just when she was about to type a reply, Hope continued with, “Hey I gotta go, Rebekah’s calling me. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I’ll see you,” Josie said, “I love you too.” The heart Hope answered with made her happier than she’d been in days.

Hope closed her computer after she finished talking with Josie and went downstairs to see Rebekah looking over a cookbook.

“What did you need?” Hope asked her Aunt, “I was doing homework.” It was a lie, but she was kind of hoping she could go back and talk with Josie some more.

“I want to bake something. Help me out,” she said.

“Bake what?” Hope asked.

“A pie for Josie as a thank you.” Now that sounded interesting. 

“Oh cool. Can I drop it off?” 

“You can if I go with you,” Rebekah said, “Now tell me, I’m trying to make blueberry but I don’t get what they mean here during the draining part.”

“Don’t bother. Banana cream pie is her favorite. I know how to make that by heart,” Hope said, taking the cookbook from her hands.

“Do you know?”

“Indeed,” she said, “Can you get me two bananas from the fridge? Oh, and we’ll need banana pudding mix. Do we have that?”

“We do, actually. I’d make it for Josie when she used to come over.”

“Cool, we need that. And most recipes will say to but bananas on top, but Josie likes the crushed vanilla wafers instead. Do we have those?”

“I don’t think so.”

“We’ll have to bake the crust anyway. We can go get some then,” Hope said as she flattened the crust into the pan.

“I’ll go. We shouldn’t leave the house with the oven on,” she said.

“Cool,” Hope said.

“Have some food while it bakes, you haven’t eaten all day and I don’t want you to have any problems with it later.”

“Yeah yeah, I will,” Hope said. She put the crust in the oven after her Aunt left, then took a blood bag upstairs while she looked for something to wear. She wanted to look good for Josie.

Josie was doing homework on her bed when there was a knock downstairs. She pulled her earbud out and went down the stairs. She opened the door, expecting to see the pizza she’d just ordered, so she got a surprise when she saw Hope and her Aunt on the other side. Hope was holding a pie, and she had a smile on her face. She looked better than this morning, but the sight of the bruises on her arms and cuts on her face was still enough to make Josie pretty upset.

“Hope, hey,” Josie said, “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you until tomorrow”

“Yeah I know,” Hope said, “But Rebekah wanted to make a pie to thank you, but she doesn’t know how to bake, so I helped out, and I wanted to give it to you personally, so…”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Josie said with a blush, “I don’t deserve that.”

“Yes you do. If you hadn’t found me…” she trailed off, and a second later continued with, “I was just really glad you were there for me.”

“Of course,” Josie said.  _ I wasn’t going to stop until I found you _ . The two girls stared at each other in silence for a bit until Rebekah cleared her throat,

“We should get going, darling.”

“Yeah, we should. I have a ton of work to catch up on before tomorrow,” Hope said, “Here.” Josie took the pie from her hands, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Wait,” Josie said. She was going to whisper to Hope, but Rebekah would hear her anyway. Hope raised an eyebrow in confusion, so Josie backtracked and said, “I just wanted to say thanks. And give you this.” Josie placed the pie on the table by the door, and picked up the pad and paper that was always there. She scrawled something on it and gave it to Hope.

“What is it?” Hope asked.

“My number,” she said, “Text me when you get home, okay?” Hope still looked confused, but she nodded anyway. 

“Have a good night, Josie,” Rebekah told her.

“You guys too,” Josie said. She closed the door and watched Hope and Rebekah from the window. Hope smugly showed Rebekah the paper, and the older woman laughed and wrapped an arm around her niece, who was smiling big. It made Josie happy to see Hope happy. She went to the kitchen to try the pie when her Dad came downstairs.

“Was that the pizza?” she asked.

“No,” Josie said, “It was Hope, actually. She and Rebekah got me a thank you pie.”

“Well that was nice of her,” he said, “Was she okay?”

“Yeah, she seemed good,” Josie said as she stuck a fork in the pie. She took a bite of it. It was delicious, even better than the one they’d made in New Orleans.

“That’s great to hear. You mind?” he asked, pulling a fork out. Josie frowned, pulled the pie closer to her, and said,

“Get your own thank you pie!”

“That hurts,” Dad said, putting a hand on his chest. Josie laughed and asked,

“Are you going somewhere?” Her Dad was dressed kind of fancy.

“Yep, school board meeting,” he said, “We get to talk about all of the dangers of the Internet.”  _ That made sense. _ He pulled out his wallet and said, “Here’s money for the pizza, and there’s a stack of classwork from today on the table to keep you busy until I get back.”

“Great,” Josie said, taking another bite of the pie.

“Also,” Alaric added after a moment, “You Mother is going to be coming with me to this meeting. They asked for all the parents of the kids involved to be there.”

“Okay,” Josie said.  _ Again, made sense. _

“So, instead of having you two alone at separate houses, she’s going to drop Lizzie off here and pick her up after the meeting.”

“No way! I don’t want to see her,” Josie said.

“You can’t be mad at her forever,” he said.

“I can for at least a day!” There was a knock on the door, “Why do I have a feeling that still isn’t the pizza?” Dad didn’t answer, he just went to get the door. Josie could hear him and Mom saying hi to each other. She saw Lizzie come in, so she focused her attention back to her pie.

“Hey Jo,” she said. Josie remained silent, “That pie looks good. Did you just make it?” Josie took another bite, glad it was helping her think about Hope. Lizzie, who’d gotten the memo that Josie wasn’t in a talking mood said, “Whatever.”

“Girls, we’re heading out now!” came Caroline’s voice from the foyer.

“Bye Mom!” Josie called back. Their parents said goodbye before leaving the house. Lizzie left Josie in the kitchen, and she soon heard the sounds of the TV playing. Hopefully that meant she’d leave Josie alone for the rest of the night. She took another bite of pie before going to the schoolwork on the counter. She thankfully hadn’t missed much, but she had homework too, so this would take a while. She was about to start when her phone buzzed from her pocket. It had to be Hope! Sure enough, when Josie opened the phone, she saw that it was Hope, saying hi.

“Hi back,” Josie texted. Hope responded with,

“For safety's sake, we should probably send proof that it's actually us,” Hope said. She sent Josie a selfie of her holding a paper, accompanied with, “Real time. Here’s an F on my History paper. I have until tomorrow to redo it for a C.” Josie laughed. She put some pie on the fork and sent Hope a picture of her holding it.

“This is me enjoying a piece of the best pie I’ve ever tasted. 10/10.” 

“Nice nice,” Hope responded, “You should come over. Rebekah just went to a school board meeting and I’m bored. History isn’t entertaining enough.”

“I would, but Mom and Dad are at the meeting too, and I have a feeling they want me to stay at home with Lizzie.”

“How is Lizzie?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m not really in the mood to talk to her.”

“Josie, I’ve forgiven her. You can too.”  _ No way, _ Josie thought. There was a knock on the door.

“Hey I gotta go, dinners’ here. I’ll text you in a bit.” Josie turned her phone off and went to get the pizza. After paying for it, she brought it to the kitchen. Lizzie came in to eat, and the two of them were pretty silent until Lizzie said,

“Can you please just talk to me? I hate when you’re upset with me.”

“Then you probably shouldn’t have allowed my friend to get harassed and tormented,” Josie said.  _ Dammit! She’d talked to her _ .

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m sorry?” Lizzie asked.

“You can say sorry as much as you want, it’s not going to make me any less upset,” Josie said crossly. No use being silent now.

“Josie please,” Lizzie said, “Tell me what I can do to make it up to you.” She didn’t respond, “Oh c’mon! You were absolutely heartbroken after you found out what Hope did to you in New Orleans, yet you still forgave her! How is this different?”

“It just is.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Well it’s all I have!” Josie shouted at her sister, “Look, I get that you’re sorry, I really do. But I just can’t forgive you. Not right now.” She got up from the table and put her plate in the sink. She then took her phone and went upstairs. She tried to work on her homework, but she couldn’t. Downstairs, she could hear Lizzie watching the TV again. She probably wouldn’t be coming upstairs for a bit. Josie opened up her phone and texted Hope, “Hey, I know I said I couldn’t get out, but I really would like to see you. Can we meet at our spot?” Hope didn’t answer for a while, and Josie was worried she wasn’t going to until the dots appeared on the screen and she got a response.

“Sure. On my way.” Josie shut her phone off, grabbed her jacket from her desk chair, and slid out the window, being as quiet as possible.

Hope leaned over the bridge, and watched the water down below. It looked so calm. The last time Hope had been here,it had been a lot more rough.

“Anything interesting in there?” Hope turned and saw Josie.

“Not as interesting as you,” Hope said, “But still, come look.” Josie came to stand next to her, and looked into the water.

“A lot of bad things have happened at this bridge. In that water,” she said.

“I know, I’ve heard,” Hope said, “Maybe that’s what I like about this place. The tragedy, the history. Yet it’s still...so beautiful.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Josie said. Hope gave her a soft smile and asked,

“What happened? You said you really needed to see me, so I was worried.”

“I talked to Lizzie, and it didn’t go too well,” Josie said.

“Oh yeah? What did she say?”

“She asked why I couldn’t forgive her. I forgave you for what you did to me in New Orleans, but I still haven’t been able to forgive her.”

“I kinda want to know the answer to that too,” Hope admitted. She’d been wondering all day why Josie hadn’t been able to forgive her sister.

“I can’t forgive Lizzie because I can’t forgive myself,” Josie said.

“Forgive yourself for what? You didn’t do anything wrong,” Hope said.

“Except I did,” Josie said, “This problem started with me when I pretended to be your friend just so I could find out who you were. I was so selfish, I didn’t even think about what getting exposed would have done to you.”

“You weren’t selfish, we just weren’t friends. You didn’t care for me.”

“I didn’t care for you, and everything I did was to benefit me. Textbook definition of selfish,” Josie said, “Plus, it was my own dislike of you that Lizzie quoted in those texts to Mary and Clara. I can blame them or Lizzie all I want, but none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me.”

“If that’s the logic you’re going from, then this is my fault,” Hope said, “I compelled you. I gave Lizzie a real reason to be mad at me, because she loves you.”

“This wasn’t your fault.”

“I know that. And it isn’t yours either, or Lizzie’s. It’s Mary’s and Clara’s. That’s it. And you and I don’t have to forgive them, but you  _ have _ to forgive your sister.” Josie didn’t answer her, so Hope continued, “I’m going to talk to your Dad tomorrow, and I’m gonna turn Clara and Mary in. You were right, I can’t let them get away with this.”

“Really?” Josie asked. Hope nodded,

“Like you said, no fear.” She placed a hand on Josie’s shoulder, “Promise me you’ll think about what I’m saying, okay?”

“Okay,” Josie said, “Enough about me now. How are you feeling?”

“Nervous,” Hope said, “I’m going back to school in the morning, and I’m scared to hear what people are saying about me.” Hope didn’t want to admit her fears, but she’d seen the post, and the comments underneath it. No one was about to be nice to her when she showed her face in the morning. Aunt Rebekah and Principal Saltzman said she didn’t have to come back if she didn’t want to, but she was going crazy being at home. Plus, she wanted to be with Josie.

“If anyone says one bad thing about you, I’ll kill them,” Josie said with a wink.

“I don’t doubt that,” Hope said with a laugh, “But seriously, if I didn’t know you’d be there for me, I wouldn’t even go.”

“Of course I’ll be there,” Josie said, placing her hand in Hope’s. Hope turned to the other girl, and leaned in to give her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“I love you, Josie,” she said.

“Love you too,” Josie said. She pulled Hope’s hand closer to her and kissed it. It made Hope get almost a butterfly feeling, “Oh, I got this for you before I left.” Hope watched as Josie pulled a sheet of paper out from her jacket, “Notes on the paper you’re redoing. I thought they’d help.”

“Aww, thank you,” Hope said, “You’re really saving me with this. I’ve barely touched that book since Aunt Rebekah left.” Almost like her phone was answering her, it buzzed with a text from Rebekah saying she was on her way back, “Damn, I gotta get home. She’s not going to be happy I was out if she saw how my grades have been doing.”

“I get it. Need me to help you with a teleportation spell?”

“Yes please,” Hope said. She took Josie’s hands, and watched as they lit up as Josie siphoned magic from her. She loved when that happened, it looked so cool.

“Ready?” Josie asked. Hope nodded, and they did the spell. Before she knew it, she was back in her room. She looked down at her hands. She could still feel the softness of Josie’s palms. It felt good. She pulled out the notes Josie had given her from her jacket pocket. It would be enough for her to have something to show Rebekah when she got back. So she opened her computer and got to work.

Josie clumsily came back through the window and quickly scrambled to her feet when she heard footsteps. She kicked her shoes off, threw her jacket on her desk chair and jumped on her bed. The door opened, and Lizzie came in.

“Oh, there you are,” she said.

“I’ve been here all night,” Josie said.

“Yeah, right,” Lizzie said. She must have come upstairs while Josie was gone.

“Are you going to tell Mom and Dad?” Josie asked. Lizzie shook her head,

“No, I won’t.”

“Then I guess we’ve got nothing to talk about,” Josie said. She pulled out her phone and started scrolling through it. She heard her sister sigh before leaving the room. Josie was alone for a bit until there was a knock on the door.

“Jo, it’s Mom. Can I come in?”

“Yeah sure,” Josie said. She turned her phone off and placed it on the bedside table. Her Mom entered the room and said,

“Lizzie and I are gonna go. C’mon, come say goodbye.” Josie opened her mouth to say ‘no thanks,’ but what Hope had said was still staying with her, so she said,

“Fine.” She got up from her bed and followed her Mom downstairs. Lizzie was packing up her backpack in the kitchen. Her Mom went to talk to Dad, so the two of them were soon left alone. Josie decided that she should talk first.

“Lizzie,” she started, “I um, I wanted to talk to you.”

“You did?” she asked with a hopeful look on her face. Josie nodded and said,

“Look, I’m not gonna lie, I’m still pretty upset over what happened, but I was just talking with Hope, and I was finally able to admit something to myself.”

“Oh yeah? What?”

“That I was struggling to forgive you because truth is, I’ve been spending this whole time blaming myself for what happened.”

“Jo, this isn’t your fault.”

“I know. And it’s not yours either.”  _ Clara’s and Mary’s. That’s it _ , “It might be a while before I can completely trust you again, but I forgive you, Lizzie.”

“Really?” Josie nodded, “Oh I love you, Jo.” She walked over to her and gave her a hug. It felt so nice, hugging her sister again, “Are you coming home with me and Mom?”

“I still need some time,” Josie admitted, “Just know I’m not mad at you, okay?”

“Okay,” Lizzie said. She gave Josie another hug, then said, “By the way, that pie? Delicious.”

“Hey, that’s mine!” Josie said.

“The turkey sandwich remembers!” Lizzie said, and Josie shook her head, but she couldn’t hold in her laughter.

“Goodbye, sis.”

“See ya tomorrow,” Lizzie said. She and Mom left, leaving Josie in the kitchen with her now empty pie dish. She really needed that recipe.

Hope could feel her heartbeat quicken as Rebekah pulled the car into the school parking lot. She usually just dropped Hope off at the front, but this time she pulled into a spot.

“Now remember, if you need to go home, call me, and I’ll come get you.”

“Thanks Aunt Rebekah, but I’ll be fine. I can handle some bullies,” Hope said. She hoped Rebekah couldn’t see how nervous she actually was.

“Okay, do you have your phone?”

“Check.”

“Cooler and blood bag?”

“Check.”

“History paper?”

“Check.”

“Script and snacks for play practice?”

“Check.”

“Hug for your Aunt?”

“Hmm...I think I might have left that at home,” Hope said. Rebekah shook her head and said,

“Come here, love.” Rebekah wrapped Hope in a hug and said, “I am so proud of you. Have a good day at school, alright?”

“Yeah, I will,” Hope said, even though she really didn’t believe it. She got out of the car and kept her head down as she walked into school. She wished she’d worn a hoodie or something so she could cover her head. It was November, no one would question it. She clutched her backpack close to her and walked into the school. She was almost at her locker until a loud boy said,

“Hey! It’s Hope Marshall!” He was basically putting a target on her back. You’d think the big hallway would be enough people for not too much attention to fall on her, but she was wrong. The laughing that came after that was almost too much.

“Hey Hope,” a guy she’d never met said, “Are they really that big?” He reached out towards her chest and Hope slapped him away.

“Get away from me!” she yelled. It was taking all of her energy not to wolf out, or to feed on the entire crowd around her. 

“Marshall! I’m free all night,” another guy who was ogling her said. Hope turned away and attempted to leave the hallway. She couldn’t stay here.

“Where you going, baby?” someone asked. He put her hand on her back and was moving it down. Hope whirled around and used her vampire speed to grab his hand.

“Don’t touch me, bastard!” she spat at him before wrenching his hand. He screeched in pain, and Hope expected that to be enough to get them to back off, but all it did was make another guy go,

“Hey everyone! Marshall likes it rough!” A chorus of laughter cane after that. Hope quickly broke into a run and went to the only place she knew she’d be safe from them. The girl’s bathroom.

“C’mon girl!” A guy yelled from behind the door, “Come play with us!” His friends laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. Hope felt sick. She went to the far stall and locked herself inside. She leaned against the wall and wiped away forming tears. She knew that was going to be bad, but she hadn’t expected people to physically try to touch her. She felt violated. She let the tears continue to fall as she opened her backpack and pulled her phone out of the front pocket to call Rebekah. She couldn’t do this. Those guys would probably be after her between every class. She had her finger on the dial button when the door to the bathroom opened.

“Hope?” came Josie’s voice.  _ Josie. She was here!  _ “Hope? Are you in here?” Hope could feel hot tears on her face. She didn’t want Josie to see her like this, but she couldn’t hide, “Hey, you know I recognize those boots.” Josie came closer, and Hope could smell her familiar vanilla scent, “Can you please come out so we can talk?”

“I can’t,” Hope said, almost inaudibly. She heard Josie lean her head against the stall door,

“Okay. I’m going to stay here until you feel ready, okay?” Hope closed her eyes and let another tear fall. She was being such a burden towards Josie right now.

“Please just go, Josie. You’ll be in trouble if you’re late,” Hope murmured.

“You know I don’t care,” Josie said, “Plus, Dad will have his hands full with those jerks who were harassing you. Lizzie made sure to get all of them.”

“How’d she manage that?” Hope asked.

“She soaked 'em right in the face!” Josie said in a Newsies accent, which was the first thing that made Hope laugh all day, “Hey, there’s that laugh.”

“Did she actually hit them?” Hope asked.

“Oh yeah. They're all going to be sporting matching black eyes in detention for the rest of the week. Lizzie says you can consider her your personal bodyguard from now on.”

“That’s really nice of her,” Hope said, “Did the two of you get to talk last night?”

“We did. There’s still some trust that needs to be won back, but I forgave her. Progress right?”

“Right,” Hope said. While part of her wanted to brood in this bathroom for the rest of the day, another bigger part really wanted to see Josie. She wiped the remaining tears from her face, put the phone back in her backpack and said, “Alright, I’m coming out.”

“Yes!” Josie said. Hope opened the door and saw Josie beaming at her on the other side.

“There’s that beautiful face,” Hope said, leaning in to give her a kiss. Josie kissed her back and when they pulled away she asked,

“Ready to go back out there?”

“No,” Hope said, “Any chance we can stay in here forever?”

“Hope, there is a whole world out there waiting for us, and I promise you, it is a lot more fun than this bathroom.”

“I dunno. These sinks are pretty high tech.”

“C’mon,” Josie said, “Trust me.” Hope gave a sad look to the nice, safe bathroom stall as Josie led her to the door. She  _ did _ trust Josie. That was the only reason she was leaving. As she entered the hallway, a wave of apprehension hit. This was a bad idea. The girls and boys were looking at her and laughing. Just as she felt another wave of panic overcome her, a hand was wrapping around her shoulders. She let Josie’s vanilla scent overcome her as the girl held her close.

“I got you,” she said, and Hope got the butterfly feeling. She let herself lean into Josie, and a huge smile spread over her as they walked to class. Not one single person laughed at her the rest of the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has been reading! Next chapter will deal with Hope turning in her bullies, more of the play, and some cute moments :)


	23. Suddenly Josie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie attend a Decade Dance

It had been a few weeks since Hope had returned to school. So far, it hadn’t been too bad. Most of the taunts had stopped, but there were still some boys who wanted to be jerks. Lizzie and Josie didn’t want Hope to get expelled, so they’d take care of it. But Hope wished she could just throw all of them out a window. That would shut them up. A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

“Yeah?” she asked. Rebekah entered the room and said,

“Look what I got in the mail today.” Hope looked at the note in her hand and saw that it was addressed to her,

“It’s a letter. For me,” Hope said.

“Not a letter, an invitation. You didn’t tell me the school was having a dance.”

“Aunt Bex, they have this dance every year. And like every year, I’m not going to go. Decade dances are stupid anyway.”

“They are not! I organized one of these dances and it was magnificent.”

“Dad said that Josie’s Mom was planning the dance and that  _ you _ took it over and made her very upset,” Hope said. 

“She was just being dramatic,” Rebekah said, and Hope laughed, “But please tell me you’ll go! It’s the 90s this year. I have so many outfits from the 90s.”

“I can’t go. I still have homework to catch up on, lines to memorize, I’ll need to do my hair-”

“I can do your hair and help with your lines. Plus, I got your mid year progress report from your teachers, and you have a B in history which means you’re on the right track.” 

“A B? No way,” Hope said.

“Yes way. Your teacher was so impressed with your revised paper that she gave you an A instead of a C. Very nice work by the way.”  _ Thanks Josie _ . 

“Well great, but I’m still behind in physics and I’ve got a test coming up so…” 

“Hope you’ve always aced physics. And while I believe your school work comes first, I really think you should go to the dance. You never go to stuff like this.”

“Aunt Bex I really don’t think-”

“Just tell me you’ll think about it,” Rebekah said, leaving the invitation on her desk, “I’ve got errands to run, but I’ll see you for dinner.”

“See you,” Hope said. Rebekah gave her a kiss on the head before leaving the room. After she was gone, Hope looked at the invitation on her desk. A dance did sound kind of fun. She’d never been to one before, and she was curious to find out. But there was still the problem with the bullies. She’d told Principal Saltzman about Mary and Clara, and after talking with the families, they’d ended with a compromise of him “asking them to leave” or whatever so expulsion wouldn’t be on their records. Josie had wanted something worse, but considering all the things Hope had been suspended for, she’d found it fair. Plus they were no longer allowed on school grounds, so it wasn’t like they could bother her. It didn’t stop the gross boys, though. And Hope didn’t want to go to a dance alone and deal with them.

On the other hand, maybe she didn’t have to go alone. She and Josie hadn’t exactly made anything official yet, but Hope had a feeling that if she asked Josie to go to the dance with her, she wouldn’t say no. She took a picture of the invitation and sent it to Josie.

“You going to this?” she asked with the picture. Josie responded with,

“I don’t know. My parents aren’t letting Lizzie go, and I don’t usually go to things without her.”  _ Oh,  _ Hope thought. Guess not. She thought that was the end of it until Josie continued to type and sent, “Did you want to go?”  _ Crap. _

“Do I tell the truth?” Hope asked out loud. She texted back and attempted to sound as not desperate as possible.

“I mean, Rebekah really wants me to, so I thought why not?” She added a few laughing emojis. Josie responded back with,

“Can you call me?”  _ Oh dear. _

“Sure,” Hope said. She pressed the phone icon and waited for Josie to pick up. She did so on first ring and answered with a happy,

“Hey! So about this dance, I love the 90s, and I actually have a dress picked out, if you…”

“Yeah yeah totally,” Hope said, “But I thought you didn’t want to go without Lizzie?”

“I didn’t, but maybe if we went together, we wouldn’t be lonely?”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Hope said, “But um, if we’re going to this dance together I do need to know. Would we be going...like going on a date?” There was silence on the other end, “Josie?”

“Oh, I just didn’t think that, that it would be a…” she trailed off. Hope waited for her to respond. She had no clue what to say, “Are we dating?”

“I mean, we make out,” Hope said.

“That doesn’t mean we’re dating,” Josie said, “We’ve never gone out on an actual date.”

“Do you want to? Go on a date, I mean. To the dance.”  _ Why had she said that? She sounded completely desperate which was  _ not _ what she’d been going for _ !

“I’m not opposed to that. Would you be picking me up?”

“Sure,” Hope said, “I can do that.” She looked at the time on the card. The dance started at 7, “Pick you up at 8?” They could get there a little late.

“Sounds good,” Josie said.

“Great,” Hope said, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She ended her call with Josie before going to call her Aunt Rebekah.

“Yes darling?” she asked.

“Can I compel someone for a driver’s license?”

“Why can’t I just compel somebody?” Hope asked, looking at the wheel in front of her.

“You can,” Rebekah said, “But I can’t let you drive this car if you don’t know how to use it. It’s an old model, it can’t get ruined.”

“What if I ruin it now?”

“You have magic.”

“Then can’t I use magic if I ruin it on the way to the dance.”

“Sure, but then you’d have to admit to Josie that you don’t have a license, I can tell from the look on your face that you don’t want to do that.”

“Good point,” Hope said, “Okay, what do I do?”

“Put your right foot on the brake, and move the shift to D. That’s drive. R is reverse, and you reverse when you back out of places.”

“I know what reversing means!”

“Okay, just making sure. Now, once you move the gearshift, you’re going to gently ease your foot onto the gas pedal to move forward. Got it?”

“Got it,” Hope said. She moved the lever of the gear shift down from P to D, and the car started to roll, “Whoa!” She placed her foot on the brake, and the car kind of lurched forward before stopping.

“Good thing we were both wearing seatbelts or we’d have matching bruises,” Rebekah said, “Darling, don’t be so nervous. It’s not like either of us can die. And, there’s no one around right now so we won’t hit anybody.” They were in an abandoned parking lot. The only sign of life was a squirrel nibbling at an acorn a few feet away.

“Right, I got this,” Hope said. She slowly moved her foot from the brake and onto the gas pedal. The next few minutes were a bunch of going and stopping until she eventually made a whole circle without having to slam on the brake.

“There you go!” Rebekah said. She may have been clutching the handhold for all her life was worth, but she had genuine support in her voice, “Ready for the main road?”

“Absolutely not!” Hope said.

“C’mon, we’ve only got two weeks until this dance, and I need to get the vervain out of someone at the DMV so I can compel them to pass you on time, and that takes time.”

“Fine,” Hope said, “But can we do a few more circles first?”

“Sure, I don’t want to rush you too much,” Rebekah said, “How about this. When you can make a full circle without having to slam on the brakes, we go to the main road. Deal?”

“Deal,” Hope agreed. She put the car back in drive, and they were on their way.

A few days later, Josie texted Hope to meet her at school in the theatre, so she got there a little confused. They hadn’t had a practice scheduled for today.

“Josie?” she asked as she walked towards the stage, “Where are you?”

“Up here,” the other girl said. Hope looked up and saw Josie on the top of the scaffolding, “MG said that something was loose up here, and he was going to come fix it, but he has a test to cram for so I came in, but I don’t really know how any of this works, so I thought you could help.”

“Sure, I’ll be right up,” Hope said. She took off her jacket and left it with her backpack on one of the chairs. She skipped the harness because she didn’t really need it, and climbed up to the top.

“That was fast,” Josie said.

“I’m a vampire  _ and _ a werewolf. That wasn’t even my top speed,” Hope said. 

“Well someone’s cocky,” Josie said. There was a twinkle in her eyes when she said that. Hope beamed at her and said, 

“Thank you, I try. What’s loose?”

“This screw,” Josie said, “Is it important?” Hope looked it over and said,

“Kind of, it’s what’s keeping this wall up. Can you go down and get the drill? It should be a relatively simple fix. I’ll keep it together.” 

“Sure,” Josie said. She secured her harness tighter around her before jumping down. Hope placed her hands over the wood, and when Josie got to the bottom, she asked, “Which drill?”

“The yellow one,” Hope said, “It should be in a red drawer.”

“With the blue handle?”

“That’s the one,” Hope said. Josie walked over to it, but she’d forgotten to unclip the tie to her harness from the bottom of the scaffolding, “Hey Jo, your wire-” 

“Huh?” Josie asked, turning around way too fast. The wire pulled at the loose piece of wood, and Hope yelped as she fell forward. She expected herself to crash into the stage, so she was given a pleasant surprise when Josie darted forward and caught her just in time.

“That was close,” Hope said. Josie’s arms were actually pretty strong, and she felt safe in them. Well, safe for about a second, because the rest of the wall nearly came crashing down on them. Hope ended up burying her head in Josie’s shoulder to avoid the impact, but they didn’t need to worry, because a familiar voice said a spell, and the wall was thrown to the side. It hit the stage and splintered apart. That was definitely going to take some time to fix. Hope moved her head away from Josie and saw Lizzie and MG. Lizzie was staring at them with her arms crossed.

“Hey sis,” Josie said in a voice that suggested it was totally normal that she was carrying Hope Mikaelson. Lizzie shook her head and said,

“Three hours Mikaelson, that’s how long that wall took.”

“I know,” Hope said, “I was...I was the one who built it.”

“Just fix it, would you?” Lizzie asked crossly. She left with MG, who gave Hope a small wave and a smile. It was nice to see.

“What’s got her in a mood?” Hope asked as Josie gently helped her stand back on her feet.

“It’s not you,” Josie said as she undid her harness. Hope frowned at her, “Really, it’s not. She’s just been under a lot of stress lately, that’s all.”

“Stress with what?” Hope asked. Josie bit her lip, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t-”

“No, it’s okay,” she said, “Don’t tell her I’m telling you this, but she and Raf broke up.”

“For real? That’s awful,” Hope said.

“I mean, they’re still friends, and they both say it was mutual, but…” Josie trailed off, and Hope gave her an understanding look.

“She has a right to be upset about that. It sucks,” Hope said.

“I know. Which is why I wish she could just talk to me about it instead of pretending to be fine,” Josie said, “It’s been weeks since we came back from New Orleans but she still treats me like I’m fragile. I was nearly happy we got into a fight about Mary and Clara because that was the one time she treated me like normal.”

“With what you went through, and with what I did, I can’t blame her for wanting to be protective,” Hope said, “And now with this happening, it makes sense for her to be on edge.”

“Maybe, but I miss my sister,” Josie said, “I miss how things used to be.”  _ How things used to be. Before the two of us… _ Josie seemed to notice Hope’s face fall, because she said, “Not because of you and me, though! You don’t even know how happy you make me, Hope. I wouldn’t give that up for anything. I just, sometimes I wish I could kind of have both. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” Hope said, allowing a feeling of relief to pass over her. She burdened Josie enough without having to add that to the fact, “If you’re having second thoughts about the dance because of this, I totally understand.”

“Are you kidding? I’ve never been more excited for a dance before now. No second thoughts at all. In fact, I got my dress just yesterday.”

“Ooh can I see?”

“Not until Saturday,” Josie said, “What about you? Do you have one?”

“Yep. Aunt Rebekah has one that’s actually from the 90s. She’s been so excited about this ever since I told her, it’s really cute.”

“That’s awesome!” Josie said, “I can’t wait to see it.” Lizzie called Josie to come help her, so she said, “That’s my cue. Do you want to come after school and fix the wall?”   


“Lizzie and MG were the only ones who saw that it was broken. I can do a spell,” Hope said.

“Sounds good to me,” Josie said. She left to join Lizzie, and Hope did a quick spell to place the wall back on the scaffolding, fixing the screw as she did so. Now it would be perfect for Josie.

Josie stared at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t look terrible, but she was worried she didn’t look good enough for a first date, or whatever this was. Her sister came into their room and said,

“For someone who’s been excited about this dance for weeks, you don’t look too good.”

“I guess I’m just nervous,” Josie told her sister, “I’ve never really been on a date before, so I don’t really know what to expect.”

“Well neither has Mikaelson so you’re definitely both in the same boat.”

“True,” Josie said, “I’m having second doubts about everything, though. Like this dress and my hair and even my shoes which she can’t see because of the dress! And don’t even get me started on this makeup, I don’t even look like myself.”

“You look absolutely fine,” Lizzie said, “Though a little pale. Where’s your blush?”

“There,” Josie said, pointing to it. Lizzie picked it up and started to apply it to Josie’s cheeks. When she was done, Josie said, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Lizzie said, “Did you get her a corsage?”

“No, it’s not prom,” Josie said. She felt a panic, “Why? Should I have?”

“It would have been nice.” Josie gave her a sad look, “But not to worry. I bought my own since I wanted it to match my dress, and since I don’t need it, it’s all yours.” Lizzie went to her bedside table and pulled out a small box with a beautiful silver corsage inside.

“It’s amazing,” Josie said.

“I know, right? And only twenty bucks, a steal!” 

“Nice, nice,” Josie said. As she put her flats on, Lizzie went into Josie’s closet. Josie turned and watched her sister pull out a pair of blue shorts and a white T-shirt, “What are you doing?”

“It’s for the after party,” Lizzie said, “You can’t go in your dress.”

“There’s an after party?” Josie asked.

“Of course, all dances have one.”

“There wasn’t one after homecoming last year,” Josie argued.

“There was, you just didn’t go. It was fun, though.”

“Why didn’t you invite me?” Josie asked.

“Because you’d been complaining all night about feeling sick and I wanted to get you home. Relax, you didn’t miss out on much. Plus, you get to go to this one without me, so we’re even.”

“I guess,” Josie said. She took the clothes from Lizzie and said, “Okay, Hope will be here soon. How am I looking?”

“Beautiful,” Lizzie said, “So is Mikaelson springing for a car or are you walking?”

“She has a car which makes no sense to me because she told me multiple times in New Orleans that she didn’t have a license, so I don’t really get that.”

“Hmm, weird,” Lizzie said.

“Yeah,” Josie said. Her phone buzzed, and she saw that it was a text from Hope saying she was on her way, “Hope’s on her way, I should head downstairs.”

“Have lots of fun,” Lizzie said, “But not too much fun!”

“Yeah yeah,” Josie said, blowing her sister a kiss goodbye on her way down the stairs. She was glad her Dad was gone, otherwise he’d try to take pictures, and that would be so embarrassing in front of Hope. Josie looked through the shoe closet, and was pulling out a pair of Converse when Rebekah’s familiar red convertible pulled up. She hadn’t been in that car since Rebekah had dropped her off after leaving New Orleans. What a time. Josie grabbed a small bag from the top of the closet and stuffed the clothes inside, before grabbing the corsage from where she’d left it on the ground and going outside. When she saw what Hope was wearing, her jaw almost dropped. Hope looked absolutely gorgeous in a floor length red gown with sleeves that went out over her shoulders. Her hair was down with two braids going through the top, and she wore a beautiful smile.

“You look amazing, Josie,” she said. Did she though? In her plain knee length blue dress and her hair just simply pulled over one side, she felt very underdressed. She realized that she should say something instead of just stare, so she went,

“Th-thank you. You look, you look...wow.” She wanted to die, Hope probably thought she was so embarrassing. She looked down at her hands so Hope couldn’t see how much she was blushing, which was when she saw the corsage, “Oh, I uh, I got you this.” She showed Hope the box. A small look of embarrassment went over Hope’s eyes as she said,

“That’s so sweet, Jo. But I didn’t get one for you, I feel so bad.”

“Don’t be, this was actually Lizzie’s, but she gave it to me last minute. Not that I’d never think of buying you a flower, just that-”

“It’s okay,” Hope said, cutting Josie off before she could ramble well into the night, “I love it.”

“May I?” Josie asked. Hope nodded, and Josie placed her backpack in the car before opening the box, and placing the flower on Hope’s extended arm. 

“It’s beautiful,” Hope said once it was on, “Thank you.”  _ Yes, she’d liked it! _ Hope’s gaze went to the backpack in the backseat, “Hey, what’s that for?”

“Oh it’s clothes for the afterparty,” Josie said, “Lizzie said they were always fun, so I thought we could go. Unless you don’t want to, of course!”

“No no, we can go,” Hope said, “I’d love to go.”

“Really?” Josie would have thought that with the bullying, it would be the last place Hope would want to go, and was hoping they could ditch and go get milkshakes or something. She’d only packed the bag to make Lizzie happy. Hope nodded and said,

“Sure, it sounds fun. I didn’t bring a change of clothes, though.”

“Trust me,” Josie said, “No one will mind if you keep that on.” Seriously, that dress was the prettiest outfit Josie had ever seen.

“Cool,” Hope said. She gave Josie a kiss on the cheek and asked, “Ready to go?”

“Uh huh,” Josie said, trying not to blush too hard. Hope walked her to the other side of the car and opened the door for her, “Why thank you.”

“Of course,” she said. She got in on the other side, which is when Josie asked,

“Wait, when did you get a license. I swear you told me you didn’t have one two months ago, and these take a while to get.”

“I’m a vampire who comes from a family of vampires. We can make things happen,” she said.

“Nice!” Josie exclaimed. Maybe Hope could make something happen for her. Josie had had her permit for almost a year now. She could never get past parallel parking. A huge smile spread across her face, “Wait. Did you get a license just to impress me?” Hope’s face reddened, “Hope Mikaelson!”

“Maybe,” she murmured, almost under her breath. Josie laughed and said,

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“Of course I do,” Hope said, and it made Josie laugh more, “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Hope started the car, and they were driving to the school.

Hope had never been to a dance before in her life. In all the previous years, Rebekah would beg her to go, she’d say no, then the two of them would spend the night watching old movies and eating ice cream out of those small pints. But here she was, her first school dance. With Josie Saltzman, of all people, as her date. If she’d traveled back in time a year and told that Hope that this was what her life would be, young Hope wouldn’t believe her. 

“Are you ready to go in?” Josie asked her.

“Yeah,” Hope said. She turned the car off and got out, “Here, let me put your backpack in the trunk. There’s no roof, someone could take it.”

“Oh yeah, right,” Josie said. She got out of the car and placed her bag in the trunk. Hope locked the car and asked,

“Ready to go in?” Josie nodded, so she extended her arm, allowing Josie to lock it with hers. They walked inside the building, which was when Hope realized she knew almost nobody from school. She didn’t recognize anybody there. Josie seemed to notice her tense up, because she asked,

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little overwhelmed. I haven’t really conditioned my ears to huge crowds and music, so it’s kind of making them go a little nuts,” she admitted.

“That’s okay,” Josie said, “Do you want to head back out until you’re ready?”

“No,” Hope said, “I want to be in here with you.” She walked into the gym, gently pulling Josie along, before taking her hand and twirling her around, “Plus, I’ve been told I’m a great dancer.”

“Oh yeah?” Josie asked as she finished twirling and their hands met, “Then you should probably teach me. I haven’t ballroom danced in so long, you know.”

“Hmm interesting,” Hope said, “Then I guess I’ll have to lead.”

“I guess you will,” Josie said. Hope was able to lead Josie through one dance, and it was enough to show her that Josie had definitely been lying. She danced more gracefully than Hope ever could. Though considering the tap dances she did in the play, she wasn’t shocked. Josie was probably a trained dancer. Hope had learned how to dance from Aunt Rebekah, who was so old she knew pretty much every dance from every century, so she was doing pretty well herself. The music changed from something slow to something fast. Hope didn’t know any of the songs they were playing, 90s music wasn’t really her thing, but Josie beamed at her and said, “I love this song!”

“Oh yeah, it’s great,” Hope lied. She focused on the lyrics so she could look it up and listen to it when she got home. Josie twirled her this time, and Hope allowed herself to have a little more fun with this song. She couldn’t really dance fast in her dress, so Josie helped her out by picking her up and spinning her around. Hope laughed as Josie put her back in the ground, “Your strength amazes me.”

“I know, right? I totally thought I was going to drop you for a second there.” 

“I didn’t doubt you for a second,” Hope said. She and Josie continued to dance, and it wasn’t long until Rafael and MG joined them. While Josie and MG busted out a dance they’d had choreographed for years, Hope watched with Rafael and laughed, “This is hilarious.” 

“I know, right. They’re such dorks,” the other boy said, “Hey I’ve been meaning to ask. How are you? I know these past couple of weeks haven’t been easy.” 

“Thanks for asking,” Hope said, “It was rough at first, but I’m doing great right now. Josie and I are better than ever, and for the first time all year I’m happy. Like really, really happy.” 

“That’s really good to hear Hope,” he said.

“Thank you. What about you? Josie told me what happened with you and Lizzie.” 

“Yeah…” he said, “Don’t get me wrong, Lizzie’s a great girl, and we’re still friends. We just weren’t that compatible as a couple, if that makes sense.”

“Makes perfect sense,” Hope said, “I’m glad you’re still friends, though. I wouldn’t want this to cause any long lasting damage.”

“Yeah, me neither. I’ll admit, it stung a bit at first, but both of us really are going to be okay, and I think we made the right decision. We hang out as friends and I’m already having more fun that way.”

“I’m really happy for you, Raf. That sounds great.”

“You and Josie should come hang with us, too. Get out of your bubble. Lizzie tells me Josie barely leaves the house nowadays. Are you guys coming to the party after this?”

“Yeah, we are,” Hope said. She was honestly kind of surprised that Rafael was going. He’d never seemed like the party type.

“Awesome! It should be fun,” he said. Hope opened her mouth to answer him, but Josie came to them and dragged them both in to dance before she could.

“I’ll see you there!” Hope shouted towards the boy as MG took him to dance with him. Josie twirled Hope around and asked,

“You having fun?”

“Hell yeah,” Hope said. She gave Josie a kiss, and allowed the other girl to wrap her arms around her and spin her in the air. This was the most fun she’d had in her entire life.

Hope pulled the car up to the front of the house. She really wished she’d brought a change of clothes, but Josie said she looked fine in her dress. Josie had given Hope her Converse though, since Hope had been in heels and Josie had flats. They’d been a lot easier to drive with.

“Well, this is it,” Hope said, “My first party.”

“Ever?” Josie asked. Hope nodded, “First date, first dance, first party. This really has been a whole night of firsts for you, huh?”

“Indeed,” Hope said. She turned the car off and said, “Hey, there’s MG and Raf.”

“Let’s go join them,” Josie said. She took Hope’s hand and helped her walk over. The Converse were nice, but not wearing the heels made the dress three inches longer, so she was thankful for the help.

“Hey,” she said to the boys when they caught up to them.

“Hello ladies,” MG said, “We ready to party?” He opened his big jacket and revealed huge pockets with beer stuffed in the pockets, “The lacrosse team hooked us up!”

“Nice,” Josie said. Hope was surprised to watch the other girl take the alcohol. Josie had been nervous to smoke Uncle Kol’s weed in New Orleans, so Hope kind of figured she’d be the same when it came to alcohol.

“Hope, you want one?” Rafael asked.

“No I can’t, I’m driving us home after this,” Hope said, and she felt kind of bad after she did because Josie now looked a little self conscious. She didn’t want her to feel bad, “But you guys go ahead. I don’t wanna stop anybody.”

“Let’s go in,” Rafael said, “I’ll get you a soda or something.” 

“Cool,” Hope said. Rafael held the door open for her, which was when Hope said,

“Wait? Who’s the owner of the house?”

“Funny you should ask,” Rafael said. He went to the other side of the door and said, “Hope Mikaelson, come on in.”

“This is your house?” she asked. 

“My foster parents, but yeah,” he said, “They’re out for the weekend, MG asked if I could throw the party, and I saw no reason not to.”

“That’s amazing,” Hope said. She stepped into the house, and Josie followed. The crowd was small right now, but a few moments later, hoards of kids who’d been at the dance piled it. It was driving Hope’s ears crazy, but it was also kind of exciting. MG started playing some music, and she felt an almost calm wash over her.

“Hope, are you okay?” Josie asked.

“Yeah,” Hope said, “C’mon, let’s have some fun!”

Josie was fun at a party! Hope was watching her from the armchair where she was drinking a can of Mountain Dew and found herself really intrigued by how Josie interacted with her peers. It was a lot different than how she interacted with Hope. She was sitting in a circle with a bunch of kids and was doing shots, lime and all included. 

“Josie! Josie! Josie!” a bunch of guys chanted as Josie chugged a whole can of Bud Light. Hope couldn’t hold in her laugh as Josie began to cough once she was finished.

“Woo!” Josie exclaimed, lifting her arms in the air before falling over. She sat up and made eye contact with Hope. She got up from the circle and went to sit in Hope’s lap. Hope situated herself so they’d be more comfortable and asked,

“Hey, you. Having fun?”

“Oh definitely,” Josie said, “But you should know that I am very, very drunk.”

“Oh yeah? You don’t say,” Hope said, kissing her cheek, “Wanna call it a night?”

“Not until you have some fun, you’ve been sitting on this couch all night,” Josie said, “C’mon, come sit with us.” Hope sighed and got up to join the others. She didn’t mind watching Josie have fun, but she really didn’t want to bring down her fun with her small knowledge of party games. But Josie really wanted her to go, so she went to the table everyone had moved to stand at. She stood in between Josie and MG, and watched as one of the guys explained the game.

“The game is musical solo cups,” he said, “Same as musical chairs, but instead of sitting in a chair, you drink from the cup. Marshall, you playing?”

“Oh no, I really can’t,” Hope said.

“C’mon,” he said, “Marshall, Marshall, Marshall.” As he began to chant, everyone else around the table joined in too, including MG and Josie.

“Marshall Marshall-”

“Okay!” Hope said, “I’ll play, but I can’t drink anything, I’m driving home.”

“Oh c’mon,” Josie said, “I’ll call Lizzie, she’ll drive us home.”

“Josie-”

“Pleaseeeee?” Josie asked. She even batted her eyes. There was absolutely no way she could say no to the batted eyes.

“Oh, alright, what’s the harm?” she asked. If Lizzie was driving, then there was no reason for Hope not to be able to let a little loose.

“And we are down to the final two!” MG said. The only people left in the game were Hope and Connor, the boy who’d started the game. 

“I’m taking you down, Marshall,” he said.

“Just you try,” Hope said, shaking out her body a bit. She felt Josie’s arms on her shoulder.

“You got this,” Josie said, “On average, the song played for about a minute and a half. My advice is to start going really slow near the cup at a minute and twenty. Then, grab the cup as fast as you can and you chug that bitch like your life depends on it!”

“Got it,” Hope said, and she and Josie high fived before she went back to the table.

“I’m gonna eat you up, Marshall,” Connor said.

“We’ll see about that,” Hope said. MG started the music, and Hope counted the seconds in her head. Her main advantage was that she wasn’t as drunk as Connor. While she could still get drunk, it took her a lot longer than a human. She’d had a lot, but she was only a little buzzed. She counted the seconds to herself. 45, 46, 47. When they passed the one minute mark, she kept the cup in her sights, and she used her hearing to listen to when MG was going to the dial to turn the music off. She was inching away from the cup and Connor was getting closer as MG made his move.  _ Crap! _ MG stopped the music, and before Connor could take the cup and win, Hope leaned over, stole it, and drank it in one gulp.

“Hey!” he complained, “You weren’t even close.”

“Technically, you never said that in the rules,” Hope said once she finished the cup. A smile spread over Connor’s face and he said,

“I guess you ain’t wrong. We got a new winner, Hope Marshall!”

“Marshall! Marshall! Marshall!” The crowd began to chant again, and Hope let out a little squeal as Josie and Rafael lifted her up on their shoulders. This was so fun! They put her down after a second, and Hope asked Josie,

“What do you wanna do now?”

“I thought you wanted to call it a night.”

“No way! We’ve barely even been here,” Hope said.

“You sure?” Hope nodded. She had no want to leave now, she was finally having fun. Plus if Lizzie was going to drive them home, why not let loose a bit? “Awesome! C’mon, they’re playing beer pong outside. That’s my game!”

Lizzie was in an almost deep sleep when her phone started to ring. She shot up from bed and checked the time. It was two thirty, who could be calling her? She was answered when she saw that her sister’s bed on the other side of the room was empty, and was proven right when Josie’s name flashed across her screen. She picked up the phone,

“Jo?” It wasn’t Josie who answered, but Rafael.

“Lizzie, hey. Hope and Josie are at my house for the party, and Josie said that you could give them a ride home, so do you think you’d be able to come over? I’d take them, but I need to start getting the house cleaned up.”

“Yeah, I can come get them. Are they okay?”

“They’re fine, they’re just-” he was cut off by the sound of Hope and Josie screaming in the background, which Lizzie was concerned about at first until the screams turned into laughs.

“They’re drunk, aren’t they?”

“Yep. MG too, but he got a ride home with Kaleb, whose car could only seat two.”

“Alright, I’ll be there. Don’t let them leave the house, okay?”

“I won’t, thank you,” he said. The two of them hung up the phone, and Lizzie was glad she and Raf were able to talk without it being too awkward. She got out of bed and changed out of her pajamas before quietly slipping downstairs. She couldn’t wake up her Dad. She searched his study for his car keys, but couldn’t find them. No matter though, she could just drive Hope’s car. The only problem was getting to Raf’s house. It was a twenty minute walk, and she didn’t feel safe doing it so late. So she went to the bowl by the door and pulled out the special keys. There was a teleportation spell in at least one of her books. She found and did the spell, and when she landed at Rafael’s house, she was honestly a little taken aback at the mess. The last party she’d been too hadn’t gotten this crazy. Then again, she hadn’t stayed at it so late. She’d been lonely without Josie and had left at around eleven. She walked up to the door and knocked. Rafael answered a few moments later.

“Thank God,” he said, “Josie was one second away from throwing up on the couch.”

“Holy crap, how much did they have?” Lizzie asked as she entered the house. Josie was sitting upside down on the couch, while Hope was on the floor with her legs splayed out. Lizzie held in a laugh at the Converse Hope was wearing, and smiled at the fact that she was wearing the corsage.

“Lizzie!” Josie said, “Are you standin’ on your head?”

“Sure,” Lizzie said, “Come on, let’s get you guys home. Hope, where are your keys.” Hope gave her an extremely inaudible answer.

“In here,” Raf said, giving her a bag.

“Thanks,” Lizzie said. She pulled the keys out and draped the bag over her shoulder, “Come on, let’s get out of here before Dad wakes up and has a cow.”

“Haha. Cow,” Josie said, and Hope burst into laughter. Lizzie frowned and looked at Rafael, who looked just as confused as she did. Hope clambered to her feet, and both her and Rafael helped a disoriented Josie off the couch.

“You got them?” he asked Lizzie, who nodded.

“Yeah, we’re good. I’ll text you when I get them home.”

“Perfect,” he said. Lizzie took Hope and Josie out of the house, and unlocked the red convertible parked on the street. This was a hella nice car.

“Alright, in you go,” she said. She opened the back for Josie, but Hope fell in, so Lizzie just took Josie to the front seat. She turned the car in and said, “Alright Jo, I’m dropping you off at home, and then I’m going to take Hope home.”

“There are so many stars in the sky,” Hope said.

“I’m going to take that as you supporting the plan. Josie, put a seatbelt on.” 

“No!” her sister whined. Lizzie rolled her eyes and put it on for her. Josie always ended up acting like a child when she had too much to drink. She figured Hope didn’t really need one, she was a vampire after all. She put her own seatbelt on, and drove off.

When Josie woke up, she was wearing her dress from the dance instead of her outfit from the party, and her head hurt like hell. She rolled over to check the time on the bedside table clock, and ended up getting a face full of red dress. She shot up from her bed and realized Hope was laying in her bed next to her. They were both still completely dressed which meant nothing had happened, which was good because she didn’t remember anything last night besides Raf’s party. Hope was sleeping soundly, so she decided not to wake her. Lizzie was still asleep in her own bed, so Josie decided to ask her. She got out of her bed-a little too fast since it made her head pound-and walked over to her sister. That was when she saw that it was almost noon.

“Lizzie? Lizzie, wake up!” Josie said, shaking her sister. Her sister’s eyes opened and she nearly pushed Josie away until she realized who it was.

“Oh it’s you,” she said, “Never do that while I’m dreaming!”

“Sorry,” Josie said, “Was it a good dream at least?”

“Meh, not really. Mom wants to see you by the way.”

“Mom? What does Mom want to see me about?” The confused look Lizzie gave her was enough to suggest it had happened last night.

_ Eight Hours Ago _

Lizzie drove the car in front of her house, and looked at Hope and Josie, who were both sound asleep in their seats. She shook Josie gently.

“Jo? Josie, get up!” Josie murmured something about being tired before closing her eyes again. Lizzie sighed and said, “Okay, let’s go.” She unbuckled Josie’s seatbelt and pretty much pulled her out of the car. The car being topless made that easy. She was hoping she could walk Josie to the door, but the minute she let go of her, Josie sank into the grass outside, “Oh dear God.” Lizzie went to the car to see if she could wake Hope up, “Mikaelson? Mikaelson!” She kicked the side of the car, which immediately triggered the alarm, “Oh shit!” The only good that did was get Hope to wake up.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Great, you’re awake. How do you turn the alarm off?”

“Oh you just turn the car off,” Hope said as she clutched her head. Lizzie turned the car off and the beeping stopped, “What happened? Where are we?”

“In front of my house. You and Josie got wasted so I drove you home.”

“I don’t remember any of that.”

“Yeah no wonder, you were probably more drunk than she was, but you’re awake and she’s not so you need to help me get her upstairs.” Hope still seemed a little out of it, but the minute she saw Josie, she rushed into action. She sprang out of the car and ran to her.

“Hey Jo,” Hope said, “You doing okay?” She gently caressed Josie’s head, and Lizzie would have found it sweet if she wasn’t doing that to her sister. It was still so weird that Josie was in a relationship with Hope Mikaelson, a girl she used to hate. Whatever Hope was doing seemed to be working, because Josie opened her eyes and groggily asked,

“Hope?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Hope said, “C’mon, we gotta get you inside.”

“We can’t go through the door, we’re gonna have to go through the upstairs window,” Lizzie said, “My Dad’s room is downstairs and we could wake him up.”

“Fine,” Hope said, “Is there a way to climb up?”

“A tree,” Lizzie said, “C’mon, we’ll both have to support her.” 

“Get her dress from the trunk,” Hope said, “These clothes reek, and if your Dad does see us, it’ll look better if we’re wearing our dresses. He won’t have to know about an after party.”   


“Good idea,” Lizzie said. She got Josie’s dress out of the trunk and threw it over her shoulder. Then she and Hope both grabbed Josie, and worked their way up the tree.

Caroline was woken up by the sound of an alarm blaring outside. Was that a car alarm? It couldn’t be Ric, he’d left an hour ago for an emergency and said he wouldn’t be back for a couple of hours at least. The alarm stopped, and now Caroline could hear indistinct voices. She got out of bed and used her vampire hearing so she could distinguish them. She heard Lizzie’s voice now saying good idea. What was a good idea? She could hear people moving outside, but that stopped when there was a loud retching sound. She heard two people freaking out. Lizzie and someone else. Josie? No, it didn’t sound like Josie, the voice was more high pitched.

“Let’s just put the dress on now, she can change behind the bush,” the other voice was saying. Caroline recognized it now. It was Hope Mikaelson. That meant Josie had probably been the one who’d been throwing up. And considering they’d just gone to a dance, it was late, and the three girls were trying to sneak in, she had a good idea as to why. Caroline slid into her sandals and wrapped a robe around her pajamas before going outside to where the noise one. The sight she saw would have almost been comical had she not been so angry. Hope was on the branch in the tree, extending her arm to a falling Josie while Lizzie was trying to hold on to both of them while trying to get the window open.

“What the hell is going on out here?!” Caroline exclaimed angrily. This startled Lizzie, who lost her grip on Hope who in turn lost her grip on Josie. Caroline used her vampire speed to quickly get to Josie and catch her before she could hit the ground. Hope, who’d been able to catch herself on a branch of the tree, frowned and said,

“I wanted to do that.” Caroline didn’t want to know what she meant by that.

“Both of you get down here right now!” she snapped. The two girls paused for a bit, then Lizzie gave Hope a nod and the two girls crawled down the tree. Josie, who’d been pretty out of it, opened her eyes and said,

“Oh hey Mo-” she paused, turned her head, and threw up all over Caroline’s feet.

“Josette,” Caroline said after a moment, “How much have you had to drink?” 

“You know,” she murmured, “Just a...just a little bit.” Caroline shook her head and said,

“Elizabeth, take your sister inside and get her to bed.” She gently placed Josie back on the ground and said, “You and I are going to talk about this in the morning!”

“I love you, Mom,” Josie said as she fell on her sister’s shoulder. Caroline shook her head, but smiled a bit before saying,

“I love you too, you goof. Get inside. Hope, you too.”

“Oh that’s okay, I can just go home,” the girl said.

“Hope don’t think I can’t smell that alcohol on you. As a vampire you’ll be able to hold it down for short moments of time, usually triggered by shock, but you’ll eventually be just as drunk as you were before, and I don’t want you driving. Plus I don’t want to wake your Aunt. I’ll leave her a message saying that you’re here so she won’t worry.”

“Thanks Ms. Forbes,” Hope said. Caroline smiled at the girl and gave her a hug. Hope returned it, but she still asked, “What’s this for?”

“A thank you for taking Josie to the dance,” Caroline said as she pulled away, “She’s never gone with a date before, and I knew she was really excited, so thank you.”

“No problem, I had a great time.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” Caroline said. Hope looked a little scared at first, like she was worried Caroline was scolding her, so she gave her a smile to show her she wasn’t, “C’mon, let’s get inside.”

_ Present Time _

“Yeah, I remember absolutely none of that,” Josie said. Lizzie nodded and said,

“I think that’s for the best, Mom was pretty mad. But if it helps we’re all in trouble, so at least you aren’t going down alone.”

“True,” Josie said, “Where’s Dad?”

“He had an emergency at the school. He left something running at his office, and Mr. Williams had been driving down there, and his attempt to fix it made things worse. Since I was asleep, Mom came here instead of me going there. I didn’t even know until she came out last night.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Josie said, “I’m gonna talk to Mom. Can you tell Hope that I’m downstairs when she wakes up?”

“Sure,” Lizzie said. Josie slid her feet into the slippers by the door and went downstairs. Her Mom was in the kitchen, talking to someone on the phone. There were three plates on the counter, and Josie saw that her Mom was making sandwiches. They smelled so good.

“Mom?” she asked. The woman turned around and said,

“That’s Josie right now. Thanks Rebekah, I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone and asked, “Is Hope awake? Rebekah will be over here soon.”

“No, not yet. She was still sleeping when I woke up,” Josie said as she sat at the counter.

“Well she’s got some time I guess. But you and I need to talk about last night.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have gone to that party, and I’m sorry.”

“I’m not upset with you for going to the party, I’m upset with you for staying out past your curfew, getting drunk, then trying to sneak in through a window!”

“That was Lizzie’s idea, not mine.”

“I don’t care whose idea it was! And calling Lizzie was another thing. You should have called me or your Dad to pick you up from that party, not your sister.”

“I didn’t call her, Raf did,” Josie murmured.

“Don’t get smart with me,” Caroline scolded.

“I’m not trying to be smart, I’m stating a fact,” Josie said.

“We both know you’re not,” Caroline said. Josie wanted to fight back, but she knew her Mom was right, and the light was killing her head, so she stopped.

“I’m sorry Mom. It won’t happen again,” Josie said.

“It better not,” Caroline said. Josie just nodded. Caroline’s expression softened as she said, “Did you and Hope have fun?” A shy smile formed on Josie’s lips and she said,

“Yeah, we had a lot of fun. It was the best dance I ever went to.”

“That’s great baby, I’m glad you had a good time. But good time has its limits. If you want to go to a party, you ask Dad and I first, okay?”

“Okay. Mom, can I have an aspirin? My head is killing me.” 

“Oh is it now?” Caroline asked. Josie glared at her,

“Mom!” The woman laughed before giving her two pills.

“Hope will heal herself so she should be fine,” Caroline said.

“Lucky her,” Josie grumbled as she took the pills. They didn’t work right away, but she did feel a little better. She put her head in her hands as her Mom put a mug next to her.

“What’s that?”

“Chamomile. Might help you a bit.”

“Thanks,” Josie said. She took a sip of the tea and asked, “Am I grounded?” 

“Take a guess.”

“No?”

“Take another guess,” Caroline said, putting a bowl of berries on the counter.

“Fine, that’s fair,” Josie said, taking a bite of a strawberry, “Can we go out for ice cream?”

“No!” Caroline exclaimed, but it still made her laugh. Lizzie and Hope came downstairs, and at the sight of the laughing, Lizzie asked,

“What are we laughing about?”

“Your sister is being funny,” Caroline said, “You’re grounded too.”

“I’m already grounded!” Lizzie complained.

“Oh right,” Caroline said, “Sit down girls, I’m making lunch. Hope, do you like turkey or would you like something else?”

“I like turkey,” Hope said. Caroline continued to work on the sandwiches, while Josie picked up a berry and fed it to her, “Mmm, delicious!” There was a knock on the door, and Caroline said,

“That’s probably Rebekah.”

“I’ll get it,” Hope said.

“No no, eat,” Caroline said, putting the sandwiches on the plates. She went to get the door, and the girls heard the two women exchanging pleasantries. Rebekah and Carolien entered the kitchen, and Rebekah gave her niece a long hug.

“You should have called me last night. I’d have driven you all home.”

“Technically, Rafael called Lizzie, so we could have called you if we wanted,” Hope said.

“Uh huh, sure,” Rebekah said, “Finish your food, then we’ll head out.”

“Rebekah, would you like some tea?” Caroline asked.

“I would love some,” she said. The two of them went into the living room to drink their tea, and Lizzie got up to get some mayo from the fridge, finally leaving Josie alone with Hope for a bit.

“So...it’s going to be a while before we’re allowed to go on another date,” she said.

“Yeah, I kind of figured. But since last night counted as a date, does that mean that you and I are…” she trailed off.

“Girlfriends?” Josie asked.

“I mean, only if you wa-” Hope started, but was cut off when Josie kissed her.

“Trust me,” Josie said as she pulled away, “I want.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! For anyone wondering, Hope's dress is the one Hayley wore in The Originals 3x04, and Josie's is the one she wore to the talent show in Legacies 1x11. Thanks to everyone who has been reading!


	24. All I Really Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a mid year break, Hope struggles to find her place in Josie's life

Josie entered the school and the first familiar face she saw was MG, talking with someone on the phone by his locker. She went up to her friend and jumped on his back, startling him.

“Geez, Jo! You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

“Oh please, that was nothing,” Josie said. MG gave her a hug and asked,

“How was your break?”   


“It was great, we spent the whole time on vacation with Aunt Bonnie at her beach house,” Josie said, “I learned new spells, Lizzie got tanned, it was a good time. How about you?”

“Oh I went skiing. I went down  _ two _ Black Diamonds. I took a video, wanna see?”

“Heck yeah,” Josie said. She and MG both looked at the video he was pulling up on his phone, and right when Josie was about to comment, she yelped as a set of arms wrapped around her. She turned to look at her girlfriend and exclaimed, “You scared me!” 

“My bad,” Hope said with a cheeky smile on her face. It was still able to make Josie’s heart melt a little. She kissed her and said,

“I thought you wouldn’t be back until tonight.”

“I didn’t want to miss school, so I got Rebekah to drive me over early instead of taking a plane. We actually just got in an hour ago.”

“Nice,” Josie said, “Wanna watch with us? MG is showing me his skiing videos.”

“Sure. It’s good to see you, MG,” Hope said.

“You too. Ready for rehearsal?”

“Definitely. I finished practicing all of my songs, and I think you’ll be really impressed, Director,” Hope said, leaning into Josie.

“Oh yeah? Can’t wait.” MG got the video loaded up, and both girls were pretty impressed. Especially Hope who’d never seen MG ski before, or gone herself.

“Is it fun?” she asked.

“Absolutely!” Josie said, “Remember when we all went during freshman year?” she asked MG.

“Oh yeah, and Lizzie fell after the easiest hill, then claimed that she’d sprained her ankle so she didn’t have to go again,” MG said.

“Oh my God, I almost forgot about that!” Josie exclaimed. She turned to Hope, “You should have seen it, it was so funny. I bet I have the video somewhere on my computer.”

“I guess you gotta show it to me one day,” she said. Josie frowned. Her voice sounded a little upset when she said that. Was something wrong? “Hey I actually have to go, but I’ll see you later.”

“Sure,” Josie said. Hope gave her a quick kiss goodbye before walking away.

“Is she good?” MG asked. Josie shrugged and said,

“I dunno. She was fine when she came up to me. She only started to sound down when I told her about the video of Lizzie, but I didn’t think that would upset her, do you?”

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Jo. I’m not sure what makes Hope upset. She’s not really as much in the group as the rest of us, you know?”

“I know,” she said, “But that’s never bothered her before, at least I don’t think it has. I don’t know. Maybe I should go talk to her and ask.”

“Yeah I think that would be-”

“But what if that’s awkward? I don’t want to make it sound like she was a loser or something because she didn’t have any friends before now or anything like that.”

“But she didn’t have any friends before now.”

“Yeah, because I spread that dumb rumor,” Josie admitted. MG’s face softened and he said,

“Hope doesn’t blame you for that anymore, you told me so yourself. You gotta let go of that and move forward. Otherwise your relationship will just be stuck.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to see that. It’s just hard, you know? I want to move forward with Hope and start fresh, but with everything that’s happened, it’s just hard. And I worry that one day she’ll only see me as that bully, and she’ll leave.”

“She’s not gonna leave, Jo.”

“She could,” Josie argued, “You said it yourself, she’s not really in the group. What if she doesn’t feel like we want to be her friend and she leaves? It’s one hundred percent possible!”

“You gotta calm down,” he said, “She’s your girlfriend, and she’s happy with you. Just think about that before you start to freak out, alright?”

“Alright.”

“I’m that way, but I’ll see you in rehearsal,” he said. He gave Josie a pat on the back before walking to class. Josie went down the opposite hall and saw Hope sitting in art class. She was staring aimlessly at the canvas while she dipped her brush in some red paint. A beautiful rose was on her canvas. Josie took some time watching her work, until the warning bell for class rang. She was leaving when she felt something in her hand. She looked down and saw a small rose that hadn’t been there before. She looked up and saw Hope smiling at her, with her canvas now empty. Josie returned the smile and pressed the rose against her heart. She could almost smell Hope’s familiar scent on it.

Hope had come over after practice to study, and while that was what Josie wanted to do, Hope had other ideas. Josie was doing a math problem when she felt Hope’s lips on her neck. She blushed and said,

“Hope, we’re supposed to be studying.”

“Hey, I can study,” she said huskily. It made Josie feel a way that she needed to push down, otherwise nothing would get done.

“Hope-”

“Five minute break?” she asked. Josie frowned at her girlfriend, who was giving her the biggest pout. She shook her head and said,

“You are so bad.” Josie placed her pencil down and got up from her desk chair. She kissed Hope gently, but Hope kissing her back with about ten times the force made her realize that she should pick it up. They kissed her harder and moved her hand down to Hope’s waist. Hope’s hoodie was getting in the way, so Josie moved to the zipper and started to undo it. As she moved her lips down Hope’s neck, Hope helped her out by finishing with the zipper and pushing the hoodie off, leaving her in a white T-shirt with a penguin on it. Josie paused and asked,

“Penguins?”

“I like penguins,” Hope said. Josie laughed and said,

“You’re cute.” She resumed kissing her and they eventually moved from Josie’s desk to her bed. Josie had moved from Hope’s neck to her collarbone, and was moving the penguin shirt out of the way when someone loudly cleared their throat. Hope fell off the bed and Josie immediately shot up and saw her Mother watching from the door.

“Hello Hope,” she said. Hope’s head popped up from the side of the bed.

“Hey Ms. Forbes,” Hope said sheepishly, flattening out her shirt. Josie sheepishly pulled her hair back into the ponytail holder Hope had been pulling out. She faced her Mom and said,

“We were just-”

“I think I have an idea on what you two were doing,” Caroline said, “Josie, if you’re going to have Hope over, the door stays open, got it?”

“Yeah, fine,” Josie said. She’d closed it when they got here. She hadn’t thought much of it either. Anytime she had friends over, they’d always closed the door, but she guessed that things were different with Hope. She honestly kind of liked that distinction. Though her face reddened a bit at the fact that she hadn’t heard the door open. Hope could usually keep her pretty distracted.

“I’m making dinner. Hope, would you like to stay?” Caroline asked.

“Oh she’s busy,” Josie said, the same time Hope went,

“Sure!” Caroline seemed to sense the awkwardness of their disagreement, so she said,

“I’m gonna head back down. Dinner’s in an hour if you’re staying.” She left the doorway, and Josie turned to Hope, who was reaching for her jacket.

“Maybe I should get going,” she said.

“Wait,” Josie said before Hope could get to the jacket, “Come up here. Please.” Hope sat back on the bed next to Josie, and she said, “I never want you to think that I don’t want you around. It’s just that you’ve only hung out with my family a few times, I didn’t want you to feel awkward.” 

“Jo, I love you,” Hope said, “And when I say that, that means I love everything about you, including your family. I want to get to know them more, I’m  _ excited _ to get to know them more.”

“Is that what got you down at school today?” Josie asked, “The fact that you didn’t really get the jokes MG and I were talking about?” Hope shrugged.

“It’s stupid,” Hope said.

“No, it’s not,” Josie said, “I don’t want to be exclusive. If you ever feel left out, I want you to tell me. I love you too, Hope, and I never want you to feel like you don’t belong.” Hope gave her a warm smile, and took her hand.

“I love you so much,” she said, “I always feel like I belong when I’m with you.” She gave Josie a gentle kiss on the cheek, “What should we do until dinner? Do you want to study?”

“No,” Josie said, “Lay down with me.” She and Hope laid down on the bed, and Hope snuggled up next to Josie, who wrapped her arms around her. She gave her a soft kiss to the forehead, and fell into a gentle sleep.

Dinner at Caroline’s house was way different than it was with Aunt Rebekah. Mostly because the two of them would usually just drink blood. Caroline had offered, but Hope had wanted to try the food she’d made for Lizzie and Josie. Instead of Caroline just making food, it was kind of a whole serve yourself deal that was kind of stressing Hope out. Mostly because she didn’t really like the food Caroline had out, but she didn’t want to say anything. It was some kind of fish with a salad, and Hope didn’t usually mind salad, but she liked hers with lettuce. This was kale. And the only fish she usually ate were fish sticks. She wondered if it was too late to ask for blood. Caroline had some in a small covered cup, and it smelled delicious. But she felt way too nervous to ask. Josie was right. Hope  _ did _ feel awkward around Josie’s family. She couldn’t let it show though. She could do this.

“What kind of fish is this, Ms. Forbes?” Hope asked in an attempt to make conversation. 

“It’s tilapia with a lemon butter glaze,” Caroline said, “You’re okay with that, right?”

“Uh huh,” Hope lied. She speared some onto her plate and took a bite. The lemon tang was nearly enough to make her gag, but she held it down, “Delicious.” Josie smiled at her, clearly not noticing her distaste, but Lizzie did. A smirk spread across her face as she said,

“Try the salad Hope. It’s really good.”

“That’s okay,” Hope said, “The fish is perfect.”

“Lizzie, don’t force her,” Caroline said in a warning tone.

“I’m not forcing, just suggesting,” she said airily, “It is Josie’s favorite though.” She wore a mischievous smile when she said that.  _ Oh game on, Saltzman _ . 

“I’d love some, Ms. Forbes,” Hope said, helping herself to a giant spoonful. She took a bite and almost coughed it up, but she wasn’t giving Lizzie that satisfaction, “Mmm. Is that garlic?” 

“Balsamic Vinaigrette,” Caroline said. Hope had no idea what that meant.

“Beautiful,” she said. She took another bite, and took a sip of her water afterwards. That made the taste go down a lot better.

“So Hope,” Caroline said, “How was your winter break?”

“It was great,” Hope said, “Aunt Rebekah and I went back to New Orleans, so it was great to see the family again. My Aunt Freya and Aunt Keelin helped me decorate their new place, and it looks really good.” Josie nodded in support. Hope had sent her all the pictures.

“That sounds lovely,” Caroline said, “Is your Aunt well?”

“She’s great,” Hope said. She’d actually been amazing these past couple of weeks. She and Marcel had been tracking the Siennas, and while they hadn’t found them, they knew enough to know that they weren’t a threat, which took a lot off of her plate. Plus, the family had had a great Christmas with the news that Keelin was expecting. She was having a baby boy in the summer, “My Aunts are also about to have a baby, so that’s been really exciting for us.”

“That’s amazing, give them my best,” Caroline said, “And speaking of Rebekah, tell her to call me. I have a proposition for her.”

“Sure. What is it?” Hope asked. Josie and Lizzie leaned in too, showing their curiosity.

“Nothing the three of you need to worry about right now,” she said, shutting it down, “Josie, I made a flan for dessert. Come help me get it.”

“I’ll be right back, babe,” Josie said. She left with Caroline, and Hope and Lizzie were left alone. As Hope pushed her food around with her fork, Lizzie said,

“You don’t have to pretend to like the food.”

“I’m not pretending.”

“Oh please, you’re not subtle. Mom will be offended if you don’t ask for something else. She hates when her guests are unsatisfied.” 

“The fish is just fine. See,” Hope said. She took two bites for good measure. As she swallowed, her face scrunched up from the lemon taste. She hated lemon.

“Yeah. Right,” Lizzie said. She placed a hand in Hope’s and murmured a spell under her breath. All the food disappeared from her plate in an instant. She then tasted a rush of lemon and kale in her mouth. She coughed and said,

“Did you just...put that in me?”

“New spell Aunt Bonnie taught us. Cool right? It gets rid of food without wasting it, and you still get all the nutritious value. 10/10 if you’re in a rush.”

“Yeah, nice,” Hope said. She took a sip of her water as Caroline and Josie returned with the flan. Hope had never had flan before, but she usually liked all desserts. She was still a little hungry for food. The only problem with Lizzie’s spell was that it didn’t make her feel full. She felt like it was supposed too though. Maybe Lizzie hadn’t worked out all the kinks yet.

“Hope, do you want some?” Josie asked as she slid back into her seat.

“Sure,” she said. Caroline cut some from her and put it on a plate. She took a bite, and nothing could stop her from coughing it out. So much caramel! Hope could handle chocolate sauce, hot fudge, strawberry sauce, cherry sauce, pretty much any sauce, but she couldn’t stand caramel! 

“Hope, are you okay?” Josie asked, gently patting her back.

“Uh huh,” Hope said weakly. She took a big sip of water in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth, but it was so strong. The Saltzman-Forbes were all staring at her, so she ducked in order to hide her reddening face.

“So...not a fan of the flan, huh?” Josie asked after a moment. Hope looked at her girlfriend, expecting to see disappointment, but got a pleasant surprise when she instead saw a smile on her face. In fact, all three of them were smiling.

“Sweetie if you don’t like the food, you can just say something,” Caroline said, “I don’t want to feed you something you don’t like.” 

“It’s not that I don’t like it,” Hope tried to say, but she wasn’t going to get anywhere considering she’d spit it up all over the plate, “Okay...I didn’t like it. Can I be honest?”

“I’ll be offended if you aren’t.” 

“I don’t really like fish. Or kale salad.”

“That was arugula,” Lizzie said.

“But you ate it all,” Josie said.

“Actually, Lizzie did a spell to make it all go away.”

“Elizabeth!” Caroline exclaimed.

“Traitor,” Lizzie said to her. Hope blushed. Caroline shook her head at her daughter before looking at her guest and saying,

“Hope, what do you want to eat? We have spaghetti, popcorn shrimp, baked chicken, mashed potatoes, caesar salad, we also have blood-”

“It’s really okay Ms. Forbes.”

“She’s not going to stop until you pick something,” Lizzie said. Caroline continued to list every food in her house until Hope eventually said,

“Okay! Um, popcorn shrimp sounds really good.”

“Then popcorn shrimp it is. Lizzie, take Hope’s plate for her.” Lizzie took the plate for Hope, and once she was left alone with Josie, the other girl said,

“Hope, you gotta say something next time.”

“I know. I just felt awkward with what we talked about before we came downstairs. I didn’t want you to think I was uncomfortable.” Josie raised an eyebrow at her, “Okay, so I was a little uncomfortable, but I really am trying. It’s just taking me some time.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not mad or anything,” Josie said, “In fact, I’m the opposite. It made me so happy to see you get along with my Mom and Lizzie. We never really hang with my family, so I’m glad to see you getting along with them. Especially with how our last encounter went.”

“Oh yeah,” Hope said, “Rebekah still isn’t letting me drive the car. She was so mad.”

“Yeah, Lizzie lost her privileges too. I’m good though. The one time I’m glad I was too lazy to go and take my driver’s test.” 

“You should take it. Driving is fun.” 

“Nah, I’d rather have my amazing girlfriend drive me around,” she said.

“You should tell that to Aunt Rebekah,” Hope said. Josie laughed before leaning in and kissing her. Their moment was cut short when Caroline returned.

“One plate of popcorn shrimp,” she said, placing it in front of Hope. The smell almost made her mouth water. She took a bite, and her eyes widened.

“This is delicious!” she exclaimed. It was the best thing she’d ever tasted, even better than the grilled cheese from the grille!

“I’m glad you like it, sweetie,” Caroline said. She gave her a cup which had a good amount of blood in it, “You should have a little bit everytime you eat to keep your strength up.”

“Thanks Ms. Forbes,” she said, “And thank you for having me for dinner. It was really nice getting to eat with you guys.”

“Of course. Come over anytime,” Caroline said. She and Lizzie cleaned the plates, leaving Hope and Josie to finish the popcorn shrimp.

“This is really good,” Josie said, taking a bite, “And Mom hasn’t made it in years.” 

“Yeah, I love it,” Hope said, “Could I take some home with me?”

“Yeah absolutely, I’ll let her know,” Josie said. Hope finished eating, and while Caroline packed Hope a tupperware container of shrimp, Hope went back to Josie’s room to pack up her stuff. As she was sliding her jacket off, Josie said,

“I’m cancelling practice tomorrow, by the way.”

“Why?” Hope asked. Over break, Josie had pretty much said there'd be a practice everyday when they got back. Josie smiled and said,

“We’re going on a trip. Wear sneakers tomorrow.”

“Oh okay,” Hope said, wondering if she should be scared. She heard a honk outside from Aunt Rebekah and said, “See you tomorrow, Jo.”

“Bye babe,” she said. She gave her a kiss on the cheek, said goodbye to Lizzie and Caroline, then went to Rebekah’s car.

“Did you have fun, love?” she asked.

“Indeed,” Hope said, “Ms. Forbes let me have some popcorn shrimp if you want some. She also said she wants to talk to you about something.” 

“I’ll speak to her in the morning then. And that’s alright about the shrimp, I already ate. Did you get your homework done?”  _ Nope _ .

“Uh huh,” Hope lied. She had a long night ahead of her. Aunt Rebekah pulled into the garage. She turned the car off and said,

“I’m going to get to bed. I’ve had a long day.”

“Yeah me too,” Hope said, feigning a yawn. She got out of the car, put her shrimp in the fridge, and on her way up the stairs, she heard Rebekah say,

“Darling?” She turned to her,

“Yeah?”

“If you’re going to go over to Josie’s to study, I expect you to actually finish your work,” she said with a raised eyebrow.  _ Ugh, she always caught her! _

“Sorry Aunt Rebekah, I’ll make sure to get it done next time,” she said. Rebekah gave her a nod,

“Very nice. Goodnight, love.” 

“Goodnight, Aunt Rebekah,” Hope said. She went into her room and was changing into her pajamas when she got a text from Josie.

“Missing you :)” the text said. Hope smiled and texted back,

“Miss you too. Any hints on your surprise for tomorrow?” Josie responded with,

“Nope. You’ll have to wait and see.” Hope pouted and texted back,

“Pleaseeee?” She added a little sad emoji for emphasis. Josie responded with a gif of someone pretending to zip their mouth shut. Hope sighed and said

“Fine. Will I like this surprise?”

“Definitely,” Josie said, “Remember, sneakers. Those heels of yours won’t fly.”

“Yeah yeah. I remember,” Hope said, “Goodnight Jo, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Hopey. I love you.” Hope laughed at Josie’s nickname for her and said,

“Love you too, Jo.” 

Hope was so nervous for Josie’s surprise. She’d come to school in sneakers like Josie had asked, which she didn’t like because it showed everyone how short she actually was. The day itself had been normal, but now it was after school, and getting asked to wear a blindfold was not making Hope feel safe about what Josie was planning.

“Baby, you know I don’t really like surprises,” she said.

“Hope, I promise you, you’ll like it,” Josie said. She had her hands on Hope’s back, and she was guiding her. Hope could hear snow crunching under her feet, and she could tell that she and Josie weren’t alone. She caught the familiar scents of Lizzie, Raf, and MG. So this was a whole group hang.

“How much farther?” Hope asked.

“Not much, we’re almost there,” Josie said. Hope could hear the sound of something being dragged through the snow. She heard Lizzie snap at MG to pick something up, and the dragging noise stopped. So MG was carrying something, good to know. Hope could feel herself walking on an incline, and when it stopped, Josie said, “Okay, we’re here.” She gently removed Hope’s blindfold, and Hope opened her eyes to her surroundings. She was standing on top of a hill of snow, and when she turned to the others, she saw that they were holding sleds. MG was holding a big one, while Lizzie, Raf, and Josie had small ones slung over their backs. 

“Sleds?” Hope asked. Josie nodded and said,

“I had the feeling that you’ve never been before. We were going to do skiing, but that takes some practice, and leads to way too many tumbles, plus sledding is a lot more fun.” Hope was almost overwhelmed. Because it wasn’t only Josie doing this for her, it was all of them, “Hope? Is that okay?”

“Josie, it’s perfect,” she said, “I love it.” She also loved how cute Josie looked in her thick jacket and cute little earmuffs. Hope liked them, so she took the hat in her head off and switched it out for Josie’s earmuffs. Josie placed the hat on her head with no complaint.

“Sorry, I was digging these,” Hope said, placing the earmuffs on her head.

“Funny, I thought the same thing about this hat,” Josie said, playing with the tassels on the ends, “You ready to go down?” Hope nodded eagerly. Josie helped her get on the sled. It was then when she saw how big the hill actually was.

“Maybe we shouldn’t…” she murmured, but Josie was already pushing the sled forward. She jumped on right as they were on the edge of the hill, and Hope screamed as the sled plummeted down. Just as she thought she was gonna fly off, she felt Josie’s arms wrap around her, and a calm came over her. As she relaxed, she started to realize how fun this actually was. Her screams turned into laughs as the sled continued to descend down the hill. She could hear MG, Lizzie, and Rafael coming behind them. They reached the bottom, and Josie asked,

“Was that okay?”

“Okay?” Hope asked, “That was frickin’ amazing! Let’s go again!” And they did. She went with Josie a few more times, then a few times with Rafael and MG, and even once with Lizzie. The four of them all went together on MG’s big sled, and that ended up being a lot more fun than Hope thought it would be. She usually didn’t like being crammed with a lot of people, but she’d enjoyed herself. Now Josie was asking if she wanted to go by herself.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I can go with you,” Josie said.

“No, it’s okay,” Hope said, “I want to go.” She sat in Josie’s sled and let Josie push her forward. She gripped the edges of the sled, and let out a deep breath as Josie let go. She headed downwards, and while she wanted to scream at first, she ended up letting out a shout of glee. When she was by herself, she could feel the wind cutting through her. And it felt amazing. She felt a rush of euphoria as the sled picked up pace down the hill, then let out a breath she’d been holding in as the sled skittered to a stop. She jumped up and waved to her friends, who waved back. She let out a little jump of joy. She had  _ friends _ . God that word felt great to think. She grabbed Josie’s sled and went up to join the others. She went a few more times, once even on her stomach, before going back to join the others.

“What did you think?” Josie asked.

“It was amazing!” Hope exclaimed, “Can we go again?” Josie looked like she was going to say yes, but Lizzie checked her watch and said,

“Jo, we’re cutting close on time, Mom will want us home soon.”

“Another day,” Josie told Hope, who nodded happily. On the way back, Hope helped MG with his sled. They were almost back in town when Hope felt something hit her back. She looked and saw the remains of a snowball. She turned around and saw Josie with a big grin on her face. Hope dropped the sled and fired one right back, only for Josie to duck and the ball to hit Raf. 

“Guys…” Lizzie said warningly, but no one was listening. Rafael fired at Hope, who ducked just in time for it to hit MG.

“Oh it’s on!” The boy said. He dropped the sled on the ground, and formed his own ball. He threw one right at Josie, who went to get him out. The four of them threw the snowballs at each other, and it wasn’t long before Lizzie relented and joined in too. Josie scooped Hope up and spun her around as a shield against a wave of snowballs from Lizzie and Raf, and MG and Lizzie ended up rolling on the ground together after a full attack of snowballs against the others.

“Biggest snow angel wins!” She challenged the boy. The two of them spread their arms to create their angels, and Josie flicked a bit of snow on Hope’s face. Hope laughed and rubbed it away, and both girls squealed as Rafael picked them up and rolled them into the snow. He hopped up and said,

“Last man standing! Guess I win.” Josie smirked and grabbed his arm, pulling him down to the ground in between her and Hope. 

“I think it’s a tie,” she said. He shook his head and said, 

“I’m gonna get you, Saltzman!” The two of them got up from the ground and chased each other around in the snow. Hope laughed from her spot on the ground. Lizzie and MG had finished with their snow angels, and they were comparing.

“Mine is definitely bigger,” Lizzie was saying. 

“Nah, I don’t really see it,” MG said. He used his foot to scratch off some of her angel from the ground. She gaped and exclaimed,

“Cheater!” Hope was worried they’d fight at first, but then she saw the twinkle in Lizzie’s eyes. She formed a snowball and tossed it at him, and soon they were playfully fighting.

“Hope, come join us!” MG said as he began to run from Lizzie. Hope pulled herself up from the ground and went to join her friends, her heart lighter than it had been in a long time.

Hope entered her house and saw Rebekah in the living room, watching a movie. She pulled her scarf off and asked,

“What are you watching?”

“Deadpool,” Rebekah said, “It’s quite violent. I think you’d like it.” 

“Nice,” Hope said, coming to sit on the arm of the couch. Rebekah’s eyes flitted over her, and Hope could tell she was wondering why she was covered in snow, and wearing earmuffs that she hadn’t left the house in.

“Was practice outside?” she asked.

“No practice today,” Hope said, “Josie took me sledding. She also let me have her earmuffs. And she has my hat, I didn’t go out without it.” Rebekah was always worried about Hope catching cold, even as a vampire. She didn’t want to risk it since Hope was a tribrid. 

“Well that was nice of her,” Rebekah said, “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, lots of fun,” Hope said, “It was pretty cold out though.”

“I’ll bet. Come to the kitchen, I’ll make hot cocoa.” Rebekah turned the movie off, and Hope followed her to the kitchen, making sure to kick her shoes off by the door. If she got snow everywhere, Rebekah wouldn’t be happy. She placed her coat on the rack, then went to sit at the counter. As she took her mittens off and exposed her hands to the raw coldness of the world, she hoped her Aunt would hurry with that warm mug of cocoa. Rebekah placed the cup of milk in the microwave, and while it heated up, she said, “So, I talked to Josie’s Mom.”

“And?” Hope asked. She’d been wondering all day what Caroline had wanted to talk to her Aunt Rebekah about.

“And she offered me a position on the town council. I’m going to accept it.” Hope frowned.

“The town council. Who tried to kill me and my friends?”

“Not that council, love. A new council dedicated to protecting supernatural individuals, run by Josie’s parents, and joined by supernaturals and their allies. Sheriff Donovan has given his full support, and I think by taking a spot, I’ll really be able to keep you safe.”

“Aunt Rebekah are you sure? What if it just ends up like it did last time?”

“If it does, I’ll be there to put an end to it before any harm can come to you or your friends, I promise.” The microwave beeped, and Rebekah went to get the mug. As she was mixing the powder in the milk, she said, “Love, if you really don’t want me to, I won’t take the position. But I really think it’s what’s best for you.” 

“I know,” Hope said. She took the mug from her Aunt, enjoying the heat on her cold hands. She took a sip, savored the taste, and said, “You can take the position. I trust you.” Rebekah smiled at her, placed a hand on Hope’s arm and said,

“Thank you sweetheart. That means the world coming from you.” Hope gave her a smile and as she drank her cocoa she asked, 

“Do you want to watch that movie together? I finished my homework, I promise.” 

“I’d love to. C’mon,” Rebekah said. They went to the living room, and Rebekah turned the TV back on. Hope snuggled with her Aunt on the couch, and they watched the movie together while Hope sipped her drink. Her phone buzzed after a bit, and she laughed at the text from Josie. It was a picture of her Mom trying to show her Dad how to make a casserole.

“Who’s got you laughing?” Rebekah asked.

“Just Josie,” Hope said. She responded with some laughing emojis and shut the phone off. Rebekah paused the movie and said,

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about Josie.” Hope frowned at the seriousness in Rebekah’s tone. She sat up straighter and asked,

“What about Josie?”

“When I was talking with Caroline, she told me how yesterday she caught you and Josie in her room, doing things together-”

“Oh my God Aunt Rebekah! Why do you have to say it like that?”

“I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, but I need to make sure that you and Josie are being safe with each other.”

“Aunt Rebekah, we’re too girls. And I’m technically dead. There’s nothing to be unsafe about,” Hope said. Rebekah shook her head and said,

“Pregnancy is not what I’m talking about. When you get into a relationship with somebody and you take it to the next level, that’s an entirely new level of emotion.”

“Aunt Rebekah, Josie and I have already...you know,” Hope said.

“I do. But that was before the two of you were in a relationship. Being together like that gives you two a whole new bond, and I want you to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Trust me, I do,” Hope said, “I love her Auntie Bex. This isn’t just some fling, or an attraction I’m testing. When I see the next chapter of my life, Josie’s on every page.” Rebekah’s expression softened, and she said,

“You really mean that, don’t you?”

“I do.” Rebekah smiled and wrapped Hope in a hug.

“Your Mother would be so proud of you, you know that.” She pulled away and said, “You’re really growing up, little lady. And that would make her so happy.”

“You think so?” She nodded, “Do you think Dad is proud too?”

“I know it,” she said, gently caressing her cheek. Hope could feel a tear form, but she wasn’t in the mood to get too emotional tonight. She wiped it away, “Geez Auntie Bex. Have you been cutting onions?” Rebekah wiped away her own tears and said,

“Oh yeah, totally.” The two of them reverted back to their original position of snuggling on the couch as Rebekah restarted the movie. Hope’s phone buzzed again a bit later, and she checked it. She had texts from Josie and three unknown numbers. She then realized it was Lizzie, MG, and Raf. Josie had added her to a group with all of them, and they were sharing the pictures from today. Along with a video of when Hope went by herself on her stomach and nearly wiped out. Hope had been embarrassed at the time, but looking back at it, it was hilarious. 

“What’s that love?” Rebekah asked.

“A video of me going sledding. Wanna watch?” Rebekah nodded and looked at the phone. She watched the video, and Hope could tell she was trying to hold in her laugh. 

“You can laugh if you want to,” Hope said.

“Oh thank God,” she said, and started to laugh, “You look so funny! Look at you, you went right off that board into the snow!” 

“I didn’t go right off of it,” Hope defended, but it didn’t change Rebekah’s mind. They watched the video again, and Hope showed Rebekah some of the pictures. She then frowned when she realized another tear was coming from her Aunt’s eyes, “Auntie Bex? Are you okay?”

“It’s just that...you look so happy, love. And that really warms my heart.” Hope refused to let herself cry tears of joy in front of Rebekah, so she just buried her head in her Aunt’s side as she held her and resumed the movie. It was only then, snuggled up against her Aunt, holding her cup of cocoa close, that Hope allowed herself to take a deep breath, and let a small happy tear fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading! Next chapter will see everyone getting ready for opening night :)


	25. The Key Is

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope struggles with stage fright, and gets some upsettings news that she keeps from Josie

Hope woke up and saw her Aunt looking through her art supplies. She frowned, pulled herself in a sitting position, and asked,

“Aunt Rebekah, what are you doing?” Her Aunt turned to her, smiled big and said,

“Great, you’re awake. Time to go.”  _ Go where? _ Rebekah took a paintbrush from her bowl and said, “Come on, love. It’s time for your show!”

“Show? What show?” Hope asked. Rebekah didn’t answer, she just pulled Hope from her bed and placed her paintbrush in her hands. Hope looked down and realized she wasn’t in her pajamas.  _ Had she forgotten to change last night? _ But that made no sense. She wasn’t wearing the outfit she’d worn at school yesterday. Rebekah basically dragged her out of her room, but instead of Rebekah’s door being the first thing Hope saw, she saw the big scaffolding for the play.

“Huh?” Hope asked. Rebekah pushed her towards it.

“C’mon Hope, everyone’s counting on you to finish painting,” she said.

“But this isn’t my usual brush!” Hope exclaimed, turning to her Aunt. Except she was no longer there, “Auntie Bex? Where’d you go…” Hope trailed off as she looked at the big audience pit in front of her. It was filled with people. The kids from school, Josie’s parents, even Hope’s family was there! She saw Aunt Freya, Keelin,  _ and _ Marcel watching her. Aunt Davina and Uncle Kol were in the row in front of them. Hope could feel her skin crawling.  _ Why were they watching her paint? _

“Um...hi?” Hope asked. None of them answered. They just stared at her until she could no longer look at them. She went back to her paint and dipped the tiny brush in. Before she could touch it to the rough wood of the scaffolding, she felt a hand on her wrist.

“Hope, what are you doing?” It was Josie. Josie dressed in her costume. She looked beautiful. Hope was going to tell her just that when Josie continued with, “We need to get going! Your song is soon.” Hope’s face paled,

“My song? It’s not time yet…”

“C’mon c’mon!” Josie said, pulling Hope away from her paint.  _ How was this happening? _ They’d had two weeks left last night! Hope looked down and realized she was dressed in her costume. She had only worn it once before, and it was usually more comfortable. Josie gave Hope the prop crutch she used and said, “Go!” 

“Okay!” Hope said, wishing that Josie wasn’t being so demanding. She went back on the stage, and climbed on the scaffolding. None of her props for the scene were there. Was she supposed to go get them? Oh well. She had to wing it. She couldn’t hear the music for the song though. Where was the orchestra? The pit was empty! Was it acapella on Opening Night? The audience was waiting, so she decided to give them something. The song started with talking, so maybe that was why the music hadn’t started yet.

“Dear Jack,” she started, but she wished she hadn’t. Her voice came out scratchy, and it made the entire audience start laughing. Hope shrunk away on the stage. The laughs were getting louder and louder. She felt almost suffocated. She turned to Josie for support, but the laughter from her was the worst of all. She was basically on the floor, laughing and pointing. Lizzie, MG, and Raf were with her, and it wasn’t much better. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Clara looking down on her.

“Look at your Mikaelson,” she said, “Always such a loser.”

“Get away from me!” Hope shouted, shoving Clara hard away from her. 

“Hope, Hope!” Clara shouted, but it wasn’t Clara’s voice that came out. It was her Aunt’s. The scene around her changed, and Hope found herself shooting out of bed.

“Get away!”she was screaming.

“Hope! Hope, calm down,” Rebekah said. Hope looked around and realized that she was in her bedroom. She looked at her bedside clock. The time read 3:27 AM. Hope watched as her Aunt came up from the ground, and Hope realized that she must have shoved her.

“Auntie Bex? What happened?” Hope asked.

“You were having a nightmare, love,” Rebekah said, “I came in and you were writing around, so I tried waking you up which I guess was a mistake. Are you okay?” Hope nodded and said,

“Yeah, I think I’m just a little stressed about doing the play in a few weeks. We got our costumes yesterday and I think that made it feel more real,” Hope said as she pulled herself against the headboard. Rebekah put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said,

“Well, from what I’ve heard, you’ve been doing amazing, and I know that whatever happens, you’re going to do your best, and I’m going to be so proud of you.”  _ Yeah, until I forget my words and embarrass myself on stage. Or even worse, when I sound terrible! _ “How about I get you some tea, then I lie with you until you fall back asleep?”  _ Lay with me until I fall asleep?  _ Hope was sixteen, not six. But if she was being honest, tea and cuddles did sound really nice. 

“Sure. I mean, if you want to,” Hope added. Rebekah wasn’t fooled, though. She kissed Hope on the temple and said,

“I’ll be right back, love.” She went to get the tea, and Hope got out of bed to get to her phone. She picked it up and dialed Josie’s number. She didn’t think she’d pick up because of how late it was, but she figured it was worth a try anyway. After four rings, she was gonna give up and talk to her at school, but halfway through the fifth ring, Josie picked up.

“Hope?” she asked. Her voice sounded tired, like she’d just woken up. Hope could imagine what she looked like. She probably had hair in her face, and her eyes were probably half open, “It’s three in the morning. Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Hope admitted, “I had a nightmare about opening night. I’m scared that something is gonna go wrong, and I’ll mess it up.” She could hear movement on the other side. It sounded like Josie was getting up and moving. Hope’s super hearing could her a light being turned on. 

“Hope, you’re not going to mess anything up,” Josie said, “I’ve watched you sing, and you’re amazing. Even better than our original Crutchie. Plus, you knew all your lines in practice yesterday. Even I’m not there yet! Trust me when I say you’re going to be fine.”

“But I couldn’t remember anything when I was on that stage! And when I said my first line, everybody was laughing at me. What if that happens during the actual show?”

“That isn’t going to happen,” Josie said, “And in the less than one percent chance that it does, I’ll be there to personally beat up anybody who so much as looks at you the wrong way.”

“Really?” Hope asked.

“I promise,” Josie said, “Please don’t be scared, babe. You’re doing so well in rehearsal, and you’re going to be even better in front of an audience. You practice in front of the other kids in the play. It’s honestly not that difference with an audience.”

“What’s it like? Opening night, I mean?” Hope asked.

“Well, it’s honestly one of my favorite feelings in the world. It’s like all of your hard work paying off. And that chill when the audience starts clapping? There’s no feeling like it. I still remember the first time I was ever on stage. It was like for one second, I was the queen of the world. You’re going to love it.” Hope smiled. That sounded awesome.

“That sounds pretty great, actually,” Hope said. She could hear Rebekah coming back up, so she said, “I gotta get going. Sorry for calling you so late. Or early I guess.” 

“It’s all good. Call me whenever, alright?”

“Sure. I’ll see you at school. I love you.”

“Love you too. Bye bye,” Josie said. The two girls hung up right as Rebekah came back in with the cup of tea. She saw Hope with her phone and asked,

“Who are you calling so late?”

“Josie,” Hope said. She went back to her bed and took the cup of tea, “She was just telling me what it was like to be on stage. In front of a real audience, I mean.” 

“Oh yeah. What did she say?”

“That it was awesome,” Hope said. She took a sip of her tea. It was delicious! She rested back against her headboard, “Thanks for the tea. It’s really good.”

“No problem, darling. Are you feeling better about opening night?”

“A little. I guess some of my worries were also about letting Josie down, but she believes I can do it, so that’s good, right?”

“It is,” Rebekah said, “But this isn’t going to work unless you believe in yourself. You’ve got a lot of talent in you. Remember that.”

“I do,” Hope said. She drank some more of her tea, then placed it on her table as she got back under the covers. Rebekah moved her covers a bit so her head would be more comfortable, then stuck to her word of staying until Hope fell asleep. 

Hope could barely focus during geometry. She stared at the board. There was a triangle on there, and she was sketching it in her notebook, but all she could think about was Josie. And that she was tired. She hated how she still got tired. The one downside to not being a complete vampire. 

“Ms. Marshall?” the teacher asked. Hope looked up, “Can you answer my question?”  _ Question? What question? _ Hope hadn’t even heard her ask. Ugh, she hated all the questions. Mr. Facelli never really cared for class participation. Then again, Mr. Facelli was a murderer, so she guessed that this was an upside to that. However, that didn’t change the fact that she didn’t know what the question was, so she definitely didn’t know the answer. But, technically she hadn’t been asked to give an answer. She’d just been asked if she could answer it.

“Um, no. I can’t answer it,” Hope said. She hadn’t said that to be disrespectful or anything, but it still made some people snicker, and the teacher did not look happy.

“Want to try that again?” she asked.  _ No, that’s why I said I couldn’t answer it. _ Hope would get sent to the office if she said that, so instead she went,

“Okay. Sorry. Could you uh, repeat the question?” She launched into the question again, but as she was talking, Hope could hear a conversation happening outside the room. It was Lizzie and Josie. Lizzie was talking about MG’s dancing during one of the songs, and how he was so good that nobody was able to keep up with him. Josie started to laugh, and it almost made Hope blush. She loved Josie’s laugh.

“And with what we know about the rules, what would angle D equal?” the teacher asked, cutting in the way of Josie.  _ Well damn _ . If she asked again, that would be weird. But she’d heard the part about the angle, so that limited potential answers, right? Hope stared at the triangle. Well, set of triangles. At least, she thought they were triangles. From here it just looked like a bunch of lines. Running on no sleep, it all looked like such a blur.

“Um…” Hope said.  _ Where the hell is Angle B? _ She finally found it on the left side. It was kind of wide, so that put it between 90 and 180. She took a guess, “Um, 120?” 

“That’s the value of angle B, Hope,” she said.  _ Yeah, exactly! _ , “I asked for angle D.”  _ Oh shit, had she? _ She guessed B and D did sound kind of similar. Hope searched the picture again for Angle D, and saw it near the bottom. It was kind of slanted in, which meant it was less than 90.

“60?” she asked. She could have squealed in delight when the teacher nodded, but instead of moving on, she just waited.  _ What is she waiting for? Wasn’t she going to teach?”  _ Hope just shrugged and went back to her notebook, where she was drawing a sketch of Josie. A moment passed, and the teacher cleared her throat. Hope frowned, “What?”

“And the rest of the question, Ms. Marshall?”  _ What rest of the question?! _ She guessed she hadn’t heard it when she’d been listening to Josie. She shrugged and said,

“I don’t know, you tell me.”  _ Shit, why had she said that? _ The teacher was raising an eyebrow at her, so she said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just don’t know.”

“Try paying attention next time,” she said in a condescending tone that made Hope feel annoyed that she’d apologized. She heard a crackle and the lights around her flickered. Hope looked up and realized that the lights were going out. She felt a pulse inside of her, almost like...magic.

“Shit!” she said, and it was way too loud.

“Excuse me?” the teacher asked. The distraction was good for Hope’s magic though, since the lights stopped flickering. 

“That was my bad,” Hope said, “I uh, I dropped my pen.” Before the teacher could see Hope’s pen on the desk, she did a quick spell under her breath to teleport it elsewhere. The pen clattered to the ground, and as Hope was leaning down to pick it up, she heard the teacher sigh. Hope was glad when she ignored it, and continued with the lesson. She didn’t pick on Hope again for the rest of the class, which was good, because that meant she was able to work on her sketch. In the last five minutes, she asked for the problem set that was for homework last night. The problem set she hadn’t done because she’d spent all of last night working on her painting of Josie.

“Ms. Marshall, your homework,” the teacher said when she approached her desk.  _ Well shit _ .

“Um, here’s the thing…” Hope started to explain.

“She quit because of you!” Principal Saltzman snapped at Hope a few minutes later in his office. Hope scoffed at him and said,

“How was I supposed to know forgetting one little problem set would cause her to have a nervous break and quit?” Hope asked the man, “I can’t predict stuff like that.” Alaric sighed and put his head in his hands. Hope knew she was supposed to be worried about getting in trouble, but her eyes could not leave the baby picture of Josie on his desk. She really had been cute all her life

“Well, now I’ve got to interview some more teachers, which is not what the school board will want to hear right now, especially with Mr. Facelli’s “undocumented” disappearance. And I promised her a salary that she’ll sue the school over if she doesn’t get, even though she didn’t even finish the year like she was sup...Hope, are you even listening to me?” 

“Huh? Oh yeah. Um...that sucks?” She ended up asking as a question instead of saying. Alaric noticed her looking at the pictures and sighed.

“Hope, I’m glad that you and my daughter are happy, really, I am. But Josie can’t be your whole world, and you can’t be hers.”  _ Why not? That sounds amazing! _ Alaric placed Hope’s school file in front of her and said, “Your grades were looking great before break, but they’re slipping again. If they get worse, you’ll have to go back on probation, and then you can’t do the play?” 

“ _ Back _ on probation?” Hope asked.  _ She’d been on probation back then? Crazy! _ She looked at her grades and realized he was right. Her B in History had sunk to a C plus, and she had a C minus in geometry. She had a 70.7% which was extremely close to a D. Not doing her homework was definitely not going to help that grade. Maybe having no teacher would, though. 

“This is not good, Hope. But, the new semester did just start, so you’ve got some time to pick these up. You have a History paper due tomorrow, right. How’s that been going?”  _ Haven’t even started _ . The day it had been assigned, Hope had taken Josie to the park. They’d gotten ice cream together and had stayed for hours. It had been fun. Though Hope supposed doing her paper definitely would’ve been more productive. And now that she thought about it, if Josie was with Hope all the time, she probably wasn’t spending that much time with her books either.

“Is Josie in trouble too?” Hope asked.

“Why don’t you worry about yourself. How’s the paper?” he asked again. Hope could tell he knew what she was going to say, but he wanted to hear it from her.

“I haven’t started,” she admitted, “But I’ll get to it, I promise.”

“Hope, it’s Wednesday. You have practice after school, and it’s a ten page paper. You need to start planning a lot better, or these grades aren’t going to improve.” 

“Yeah yeah, I will,” Hope said, “I’ll skip practice after school and work on it.” She’d talk to Josie and clear it with her first. She’d told her on the phone that she was doing pretty well. She was pretty sure Josie wouldn’t mind if she missed one practice.

“Okay, do what you need to,” Alaric said, “But I really want what’s best for you, Hope. I know this play is important to you, but don’t put it over school, alright?” 

“Yeah, I understand. Thanks Principal Saltzman. And I’m sorry about geometry.” 

“I’ll get that sorted out. Try to get her to come back and all that. Just try to get your homework done. And no cursing in class. There are rules against that.” Hope nodded and said,

“I’m sorry, won’t happen again.” She slid her backpack over her shoulder and left the office. She saw Josie by her locker, writing something in a notebook. Hope plastered a fake smile on her face and walked over to her girlfriend. Josie saw her and gave her a warm smile. She closed the notebook, gave Hope a kiss on the cheek, and said,

“Hey, I was just going to go look for you. How was class?”

“Eventful,” was all Hope decided to say, “Hey listen, I don’t think I can come to practice today.” Josie frowned at her and asked,

“What do you mean? Is this because of your bad dream? Hope, I promise to you, I won’t let anything like that happen.”

“No no, nothing like that,” Hope said, “I’m just really behind on some work, so I need to finish it. I’ve got a big paper due tomorrow that I haven’t even started.”

“Aww bummer,” Josie said, “Want me to cancel practice? I can come over and help.”  _ That sounds so nice _ . But Hope wasn’t going to hold Josie back.

“No, it’s okay,” she said, “Plus, I’m not that behind. I have it researched and stuff, I just haven’t gotten around to writing it.”  _ What Josie didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, right? _ Josie let out a sigh of relief and said,

“That’s so good to hear. Because I could not do this play without you.” She gave Hope a kiss and said, “I gotta run. But I’ll see you at practice tomorrow, right?”

“You can count on it,” Hope said. Oh how she hoped she was right.

Hope looked up in annoyance as she watched Rebekah blend. The woman had spent the past thirty minutes blending her damn banana smoothie, and she was nowhere near done. Hope wanted to do her homework in her room, but she was eating, and Rebekah didn’t like when she took blood anywhere that wasn’t the kitchen.

“Aunt Bex?” she eventually asked, “Do you mind doing that later? The noise is distracting.”

“I’m sorry, darling,” Rebekah said, “I have my first meeting with the council tonight, and Caroline said I’d make a good impression if I brought something. I have to leave soon anyway, though. It shouldn’t be much longer.” Hope sighed and said,

“Fine.” Being on the council made her Aunt happy, and she didn’t want to put her in a foul mood. But the noise really was starting to grate on her. Maybe she should finish eating. She was sipping on her blood bag when the blender seemed to raise in volume. She could feel her blood pumping with irritation.

“Aunt Bex?” she asked. Her Aunt couldn’t even hear her now, “Aunt Bex!” she repeated louder. The blender blades kept whirring, “REBEKAH!” she ended up shouting. Her hands slammed on the table when she said that, and the blender exploded, covering both aunt and niece in banana smoothie. As Hope wiped it from her face, she got a good look at her Aunt, who looked extremely unhappy. She finished wiping the smoothie away from her face and said,

“I’m going to go upstairs and change. When I come down, this better be cleaned up.” Hope just nodded. She was about to do a spell when she heard Rebekah say, “And no magic!”  _ Damn _ . Hope got up from her chair and opened the broom closet for the cleaning supplies. She started by sweeping the glass away, then proceeded to scrub up the smoothie. She tried some off the counter for fun, and found herself actually enjoying it. She was trying another bit when Rebekah came down. She didn’t notice she was there until she cleared her throat. Hope yelped and turned to face her.

“When I said clean, I didn’t mean drink it,” she said.

“I know,” she said, “But I’m almost done.” Rebekah nodded and said,

“Very good. I need to get going. Finish cleaning that up. When you’re done with school tomorrow, we can go pick out a new blender.”

“Cool,” Hope said, glad that her Aunt didn’t seem too mad, “Also, I’m sorry I shouted at you, Aunt Bex. I’ve been on edge kind of recently.”

“When was the last time you transformed?” Rebekah asked. Hope shrugged.

“I don’t know. It’s been a while,” she admitted.

“Well I’d like you to try tonight once it gets dark. You’re radiating high levels of energy, you didn’t even say a spell,” Rebekah said. Hope nodded guiltily,

“Yeah, I’ll do it,” Hope said. Though usually she didn’t need to wolf out these days because of how much she was with Josie, “Or maybe I could go and see Josie?”

“I think you and Josie need a break,” Rebekah said, “I got a call from Principal Saltzman today about your grades. You should have told me you were having problems.”  _ Hope would have told her...if she’d known. _ Before today, Hope thought her grades had been fine. Mostly because she hadn’t been paying attention when teachers were handing her back stuff. 

“Yeah...my bad,” Hope said.

“There’ll be no seeing Josie outside of school until your grades have improved. Understood?”  _ So unfair! _ Hope didn’t say that, though. She just nodded, “I’ll be back in a few hours. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Hope said. Rebekah left the house, sans smoothie, and that made Hope feel bad. She’d make smoothies for her Aunt the next time she had a meeting. She finished cleaning up the kitchen, then returned to her paper. She had two pages done when she got a text from Josie.

“Come over? :)” the text read. Hope let out a sad sigh and said,

“I’m grounded :(. Can’t go out.” Josie responded with,

“Noooo :( that’s not fun.” 

“Yeah, it sucks, but there’s nothing I can do. How was practice?” Hope added at the end as a way to change the subject. She had no want to tell Josie why she was in trouble. Especially after she’d kind of lied to her in the hallway today.

“Boring without you,” Josie said, “But other than that, it went pretty well. King of New York is finally done, which means all the big dance numbers are done. Tomorrow, we can work on your songs, and make sure you have the blocking for Carrying the Banner.”

“Sounds good,” Hope said, “I’ll definitely be there.” 

“Awesome. Can’t wait to see you :)” Josie then sent Hope a picture of herself, in which she was wearing a blue hoodie, with her hair splayed over her face, “A pic of me to tide you over.” Hope would have sent one back, but she was still covered in smoothie, and she didn’t want Josie to ask, so she sent her a GIF and said her camera was broken. Josie sent her a picture of herself pouting, and Hope couldn’t stop herself from laughing. She loved Josie’s little pout.

“Gotta go, babe. History awaits. See you tomorrow, I love you.”

“Love you bunches!” Josie responded back. She was such a dork. Hope turned off her phone and returned to her paper. If she got it done, she’d be able to go to practice with Josie. That was all that mattered. Hope opened her computer, and typed as fast as she could.

At practice the next day, Hope almost turned and left when Josie explained how they were doing things different today. To ease everybody-everybody totally meant just Hope-into performing in front of an audience, Josie had invited some of the kids who stayed after school late, waiting for their parents. If only Hope’s paper had been due tomorrow. Then she’d have a reason to skip this.

“Oh Hope, there you are,” Josie said when she saw her. She walked over to her and led her towards the stage, “I thought this would show you that you’ve got nothing to worry about. I know this is more people than who’ll be here Opening Night, but it honestly won’t feel any different. It might even be better because the main theater lights are off, so you won’t be able to see everyone as well.” Hope decided not to bring up the fact that she could see in the dark because Josie seemed hopeful.

“Sure, alright,” she said. She slid her backpack off and placed it in her usual seat by the wall. She climbed on to the stage, where everyone was stretching. Hope was so glad her role wasn’t dance heavy. She would never be able to do the dances they do. 

“Hope, we’re gonna do your song first,” Josie told her. Hope nodded, and climbed up to the spot in the scaffolding where she’d perform it. Josie sat at the piano and started the music. Hope looked out at the twelve kids in the audience. Twelve wasn’t too bad.  _ You’ve got this, Mikealson. Dear Jack. Dear Jack. _

“Dea…” she got out when the music started, but it caught in her throat. Josie stopped the music, and gave Hope an encouraging nod. Hope just shook her head. She really couldn’t do this. Josie got up from the piano and went to whisper something to Lizzie. Lizzie then proceeded to call the dancers for King of New York to come to the stage. Great, Hope was blowing this. She got down from the scaffolding, and went over to Josie.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Don’t be,” Josie went, “Come with me, I wanna show you something.” She took Hope’s hand and led her to one of the dressing rooms backstage. She opened the door and went to her backpack, where she pulled out her laptop, “Before I show this to you, keep in mind that I’ve never shown this video to anybody before.”  _ Oh damn _ . 

“You don’t have to show it to me. Not if you don’t want to.” Though Hope was intrigued.

“I want to,” Josie said. She opened a file of videos, and clicked on the oldest one. It was entitled ‘Josie Ballet Recital, Age 5.’

“I didn’t know you did ballet,” Hope said.

“I did all types of dance growing up,” Josie said as she loaded the video up, “Ballet, Tap, Jazz, you name it.” The video finished loading, and Josie skipped through the beginning, which was just her parents and a young Lizzie. Caroline obviously didn’t look any different, but Principal Saltzman did. He didn’t have his beard and he looked centuries younger. Josie started the video once it got to the stage. Hope could easily tell which little girl was Josie. The brunette in the middle with the cute pout. The music started, and the dancers (all girls plus one boy) started to dance. Josie was obviously the star of the show. She was in the middle, and all the other kids danced around her. Hope smiled wide as Josie did a pirouette across the stage. She was the best dancer Hope had ever seen.

“I don’t get it. Why don’t you show this off more?” Hope asked.

“Just watch,” Josie said. Hope turned her attention to the video, where Josie had a little wand in her hand. She started to do a dance while she waved it around, but on one of her jumps, she lost her footing. Hope winced as Josie fell to the ground, and took the whole row of dancers with her. The music stopped, and Hope’s smile faded as little Josie started to cry. She wanted to sue whoever made that dance routine for doing that to Josie!

“Oh my God,” Hope said.

“Yeah,” Josie said, “And that was my first time in front of an audience.” Hope frowned as Josie paused the video,

“But you said it was the greatest feeling in the world.” Josie had been sitting on that stage and crying. It hadn’t looked great at all!

“Yeah, because before that happened, it was,” she said, “And afterwards, my parents took me out for ice cream, and told me that I’d danced beautifully, and that they were so proud of me for dusting myself off and getting back up there.” Josie pressed play on the video, and Hope watched as a crying Josie wiped her tears from her face. She then grabbed her wand, and stood back up. Hope watched with awe as five year old Josie got back into position and finished the dance, unlike the rest of the dancers, who were content with sitting on the ground. Well, all but one. The only boy. He got up and prance around with Josie, and the whole audience cheered. Hope laughed and said,

“Josie, that’s amazing!” 

“It really was,” she said, “I was able to finish the dance, and made my first real friend.” She paused the video and pointed to the boy. A boy with a familiar head of hair.

“MG?” Hope asked, and Josie nodded, “He dances?!” 

“Yep. That’s why I was offended when he didn’t audition for the first go around. I am extremely happy that he’s playing Davey now, though.”

“Yeah, me too,” Hope said. He always told her where to go during the group scenes. She’d be completely lost without him, “Thanks for showing me that video, it really helped.”

“No problem,” Josie said, “Just remember. Even if you slip up, you just gotta pull yourself back and finish it. You’ll end up having the time of your life.” 

“I love you, you know that?” Hope asked.

“I think so,” Josie said. They kissed, and when they pulled apart, Hope asked,

“Do you think I could go and practice my song? Opening night is coming up soon, and I do want to make sure everything is blocked.”

“Yes, absolutely. Come on,” Josie said. She took Hope’s hand and led her to the stage, where she was finally able to say,

“Dear Jack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has been reading! Next chapter will be more focused on Josie...


	26. And Then There Were None

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie faces two huge roadblocks as Opening Night approaches

Josie was liking how the play was progressing. All the dance numbers were blocked, everyone knew their lines, and their first tech rehearsal last night had gone extremely well! With only a few days until Opening Night, she wasn’t even worried. She was in the kitchen at her Dad’s house when the door opened and Lizzie came in with groceries.

“Jo, help me carry some stuff in,” she said.

“Give me a second,” Josie said. She was scanning the internet for the camera they needed for seize the day. She hadn’t found one and she didn’t like the one at the school.

“What are you looking at?” Lizzie asked, putting the bag down and coming to look.

“Cameras. I need one for the picture scene.”

“Oh don’t worry about that, I’ve already got all the props covered,” Lizzie said, “Now help me with the groceries, there’s a lot.”

“Are you sure about the camera? The one the school has is shitty,” Josie said as she shut her laptop. She followed Lizzie to the car, and her sister said,

“Yeah, I got a new one, and everyone said they liked it.”

“Why haven’t I seen it?”

“You and Mikaelson were in the dressing room together,” Lizzie said in a mocking tone. Josie rolled her eyes and said,

“I was showing her a video, we weren’t doing anything in there.”

“Whatever you say,” Lizzie said, and Josie annoyed the teasing glint in her sister’s eyes. She helped her with the rest of the groceries and asked,

“When’s Dad coming home? I’m starving.” 

“He said he’d be late and that we could cook or order in. He didn’t really care,” Lizzie said as she started putting the vegetables in the fridge, “Wanna get a pizza?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Do you think it would be a good idea if I went to visit Hope? She’s been kind of shutting me out recently, and I don’t know why.”

“Shutting you out how?” Lizzie asked. Josie shrugged and said,

“Anytime out of practice, it’s like she’s barely there. At lunch, she won’t talk to me, and she said we can’t meet out of school, but she didn’t say why.”

“Maybe she’s seeing someone else,” Lizzie said.

“Very funny,” Josie said, “Hope would never do that to me, I know it. I just wish she would talk to me. If something’s bothering her, I want to know what it is.”

“I’m sure she’d tell you if it was serious,” Lizzie said as she closed the trunk. She locked the car and asked, “What pizza do you want? I want sausage, is that cool?”

“Yeah fine, save me a slice,” Josie said. Lizzie frowned and asked,

“Where will you be?”

“I want to check on Hope,” she said. She pulled her helmet on and moved her bike towards the road. It was freezing outside and she kinda wished she did have a license, but Lizzie was on probation with the car and could only use it for emergencies, so it would have to do. She clipped the helmet in place and biked out of the driveway. When she got to Hope’s house her hands were numb and her teeth were chattering. She should’ve gone inside for her thicker jacket. But, no problem. She was here now. She opened Hope’s fence and walked her bike to the porch. She leaned it against the stairs and unclipped her helmet as she walked up them. She knocked on the door and waited for a bit. She hoped someone was home. She hadn’t texted Hope or anything, so she could’ve been out.

“Dammit,” Josie said. She stuck her hands in her jacket and waited a while longer, but no one came. She moved her hand to knock again, but her hand never made it to the door, because she heard the sound of a car pulling up. She turned and saw Hope and Rebekah. Hope looked absolutely miserable, and Rebekah looked annoyed. So something  _ was _ wrong. Hope’s sad look vanished when she saw Josie at the door. She got out of the car and skipped up to her.

“Jo, what are you doing here?” she asked, kissing her on the cheek.

“I just wanted to check on you,” she said, “The show is coming up in only a few days, and you haven’t been in practice, or answering my texts, so…”

“Um, Josie, we really should talk in private-” Hope was cut off when Rebekah came from the garage and said,

“It’s good to see you Josie, but you need to go. Hope will see you at school in the morning.” Josie frowned. What wasn’t the older Mikaelson telling her?

“Do you think we could talk for just a second?” Josie asked, and Hope gave her Aunt a hopeful look, but the woman didn’t seem too convinced.

“I’m sorry Josie. Hope, go on inside,” she said. Hope gave Rebekah an almost look of malice before angrily storming into the house. Rebekah looked at Josie’s bike and asked,

“Would you like a ride, darling? It’s cold out.” Josie would have said yes, but she wasn’t a fan of how cold Rebekah was being with her, so she said,

“My bike is fine. Um, Ms. Mikaelson? Is Hope okay?”

“She’s fine, darling,” Rebekah said, “She’s just choosing now to get a little difficult with me.” She stopped herself and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sure the two of you have been talking.”

“Uh huh,” Josie lied. They were definitely going to tomorrow. Rebekah wrapped her arms around Josie and said,

“Don’t you worry about Hope, love. Everything will be okay. You should get home though, it’s getting late, and cold. Are you sure you don’t need a ride?”

“I’m sure. Goodnight Ms. Mikaelson.”

“Goodnight Josie. Bike safe,” she said. Josie waved goodbye to the woman and went back to her bike. As she put her helmet back on and climbed onto the seat, she looked up to Hope’s window, hoping to get one glimpse of the girl before she had to go. But she didn’t come. Josie sighed and placed her foot on the pedal. She left the house, giving one last look to the window as she did.

Josie walked into school, and looked around for Hope. She’d been anxious about seeing her all of last night. Would she be happy to see her? Josie hoped so. She took a sip of the tea she’d picked up from the grille on the way to school. It nearly made her gag, but she kept drinking it. It was the only thing keeping her nerves calm at the moment. Plus she had a tickle in her throat so it was soothing. She was leaning against her locker when Rafael walked up to her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, “You’ve got circles under your eyes.”

“I didn’t sleep last night,” she said, “I went to see Hope to ask why she hasn’t been at practice, and it was so weird! Rebekah didn’t even let me talk to her.”

“Maybe the two of them were in a fight or something,” he said, “I bet it’s got nothing to do with you. She’ll probably explain the next time she sees you.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Josie said, “What about you? What’s been going on?”

“You know, just working on my lines. Opening Night is in...four days, right?” Josie nodded,

“Yep, which is why more than ever, Hope needs to be in practice. Ugh, why doesn’t she answer any of my texts?” Josie asked angrily, slamming her locker angrily.

“Hey, calm down,” Rafael said, “It’s gonna be okay. Look, there’s Hope now coming out of Mr. Williams’ office. You can ask her now.” Josie looked to where Rafael was pointing and saw Hope coming out of the office. She looked tired, and Mr. Williams looked unhappy. She said a short goodbye to the man before walking down the hallway to her locker.

“Thanks Raf,” Josie said, “Wish me luck.” She followed Hope down the hall, and saw her angrily trying to get her locker open.

“Hey babe,” Josie said cautiously, trying not to get her more upset. Hope looked angry as she turned, but her expression softened a bit when she looked at Josie.

“Hey,” she said, “I’m sorry about last night. Both of us weren’t in a good mood, and Aunt Rebekah really wasn’t in the mood for guests.”

“That’s fine,” Josie said, “I’d just come over to check on you. You’ve barely been in practice these past couple of days, and I just wanted to know why. Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine,” Hope said, “I’m sorry I haven’t been around, but I’ll be there today. And don’t worry, I’ve been learning all my lines. I’ll be ready.”

“Okay, I believe you,” Josie said, glad to see Hope acting somewhat normal. The tribrid put some books away and asked,

“So how have you been?” Hope asked, “How’s school been, and all that?” Josie frowned. Hope didn’t usually ask questions like that. She shrugged and said,

“It’s been fine. I’ve been having so many late nights though. All of my homework has been really building up. Have you noticed that?” Hope gave her a small nod, then asked,

“But you’ve like, been keeping up with it, right?”

“Yes…” Josie said. Her Mom had made her spend all of Christmas break catching up on work as punishment for drinking. Hope was sounding a lot like her Mom right now, and that was just weird.

“That’s good, that’s good,” Hope murmured. She finished getting her books and closed her locker, “I gotta get to geometry. I’ll see you at lunch.” She gave Josie probably the fastest peck ever before sprinting off. Josie frowned.  _ What kind of a kiss was that? _ She sighed before taking another sip of her tea. Her throat really was killing her.

During lunch, neither her throat nor Hope were any better. Hope spent the entire time with her head in her geometry textbook, while she absent mindedly picked at a turkey sandwich. Josie wasn’t having much fun with her lasagna, as swallowing anything was getting kinda painful. She looked to Hope to see if the other girl would notice her, but she didn’t. She tapped at her arm, and a small smile spread across Hope’s face. She turned to Josie and said,

“I’m sorry, I’ve got a problem set due next period and it’s not done yet. But I’ve only got one more problem, then we can talk.”

“Can I take a look?” Josie asked. Hope nodded and showed her the sheet. It was a proof problem, Josie’s specialty, “Okay, here’s what you do…” As she finished explaining the problem, Lizzie approached the table, plopped her tray down, and said

“I hate lasagna. The lunch menu said fish sticks, I was excited!”

“I know, same,” Hope said, “It’s why I made this sandwich. Want some?” Lizzie nodded, and Hope gave her the uneaten half. Josie held in a small chuckle. She could never have imagined anything like that happening a few months ago. Now it felt normal.

“That’s good,” Lizzie said around the sandwich, “What are you guys doing?”

“Josie’s helping me with my geometry homework,” Hope said. Lizzie nodded and said,

“I see. Geometry’s tough. How’d the test yesterday go for you?” Hope just shrugged. 

“Okay I guess. Thanks for the help, babe.” She closed her book and said, “So, I spent all weekend practicing the dance, and I’m ready to be added in during rehearsal today.” 

“That’s great,” Josie said. She coughed a bit before taking a sip of her water.

“Are you okay, Josie?” her sister asked, and Josie nodded.

“Yeah, I just didn’t sleep well last night,” she said. Lizzie and Hope gave her sympathetic looks, and Hope wrapped her arm around her, letting her lean on her shoulder. When Raf and MG came to the table, they were met with an almost asleep Josie resting, and Lizzie and Hope sharing the sandwich.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” MG asked. 

“Not much,” Lizzie said, “Jo’s just feeling tired.” Josie looked up from Hope’s shoulder and said,

“I’m fine.” She yawned and said, “I should have slept more last night, that’s all.”

“You sure you’re okay. Your eyes look completely shot,” Rafael said. Josie was about to tell him that she was fine, but then she saw Hope looking at her with concern.

“Babe you’re really warm. Are you sure you’re okay?” Truth was, Josie didn’t feel that great. She got off of Hope’s shoulder and said,

“I’m going to go lay down in the nurse’s office for a bit. I’m really tired.” Hope nodded and said,

“I’ll see you at practice.” Josie waved goodbye to her friends and headed towards the nurse's office. She’d just lay down for a bit, and she’d be fine by the time three thirty rolled around.

“100.8,” the nurse said, pulling the thermometer from Josie’s mouth, “Why don’t you lay down, sweetie? I’ll call your Dad to come get you.”

“No, it can’t be that high, I don’t even feel si…” Josie trailed off when she started to cough. She fell back against the cot and said, “Yeah, you can call him.” The nurse gave her a rag for her forehead and made the call. Josie was nearly asleep when someone was gently shaking her. Her eyes opened, and she expected her Dad, but instead saw her Mom.

“Hey baby,” she said, “Dad called and said you were sick. He had a meeting that I didn’t want him to skip, so I came to get you.”

“Oh,” Josie said hazily. She could barely register her surroundings. She felt the rag be removed from her forehead, and she was pulled to her feet.

“C’mon, honey,” she said. Josie put her jacket on and let her Mom take her backpack from the ground. Mom took her the car and said, “I’m taking you to the doctor, then we’ll go home, okay?” Josie just nodded, allowing herself to fall against the window. When she woke up again, she was in front of her Aunt Elena’s office. Her Mom helped her inside, and got her some water in the waiting room.

“I’m not thirsty,” Josie said.

“Just try a bit, honey.” Josie took a sip of the water, and managed to get two more in before they could see Aunt Elena. Caroline took her back and helped her sit on the exam table.

“How are you feeling, baby?” she asked.

“A little worse than at school,” Josie said. Caroline frowned and said,

“Let’s let Aunt Elena run some tests. Just in case this is more than a cold, okay?” Josie nodded and waited for her. She came into the room after a few minutes and gave Josie a warm smile.

“Hey sweetie,” she said, “How are you feeling?”

“Bad,” Josie admitted, “I was fine last night, but I woke up with a throat tickle, then I started coughing, and during lunch I could barely stay awake.”

“Hmm,” Elena said. She placed a hand on Josie’s forehead and said, “You’re definitely feverish. Did the nurse at school take your temperature?” Josie nodded.

“100.8,” she said. Elena checked her temperature again to be sure, and saw that it hadn’t changed.

“Not terrible, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do a flu and strep test to be sure,” she said, “You said you started feeling bad today. Were you hanging around anyone who was sick recently?”

“I don’t think so. Lizzie and Dad haven’t been sick, and neither have any of my friends. And I tell people in the play not to come to practice if they’re sick, and I don’t think they have.”

“Okay. What about close contact? A boyfriend or girlfriend.”

“My girlfriend doesn’t get sick,” Josie said. She hadn’t really told either of her Aunts about Hope, given everything that happened with Hope’s father. Mom said they’d understand because it was old history, but Josie didn’t want to just tell her now. She wanted it to be special. Caroline gave Elena a nod to back up Josie’s story, so Elena dropped it and asked,

“What about the weather? It’s cold out, have you been covering up?”

“Mostly,” Josie said, “I wear a jacket to school, but last night I went out on a bike without my jacket. I started to cough when I got home.”

“Josette Lucas Saltzman!” Mom scolded, “What do I say about riding your bike in the winter?”

“To not to,” Josie said simply, “Especially if I don’t wear my winter clothes.” Caroline sighed while Aunt Elena held in a laugh.

“Well, what do you think?” Mom asked a few moments later while she rubbed Josie’s back.

“I want to do a test, but I’m pretty sure it’s the flu,” Elena said as she pulled a swab out of a small bag, “Josie, this might hurt a bit.” Elena stuck the swab in her nose, and Josie jumped a bit, not expecting the pain that came from that. Elena removed the swab after a second and said,

“All done.” She placed it back in the bag and said, 

“Okay, now for the strep test, I’m going to put this in your mouth, okay?” Josie nodded and let Elena stick the swab in her mouth. She held in a gag and Elena pulled it out. She put it in a separate bag and said, “I’ll be back in about ten minutes, and we’ll see what we’ve got here.”

“Thank you,” Caroline said. Elena left with the swabs, and Josie said,

“Mom, I can’t have the flu! I have the play coming up.”

“Just relax babe, let’s wait and see what Aunt Elena says and we can figure it out, okay?” Caroline asked. Josie nodded and rested her head back on the table. She tried to fall asleep again, but she wasn’t able to this time, so she just watched the exam room fan spin while her Mom sat in one of the chairs so she could answer emails. When Elena did return, it felt like years had passed.

“What did it say?” Josie asked, jumping up too fast from her position. She winced as a rush of pain went through her head, and her Mom had to stabilize her.

“Good news is, the flu swab came back negative, but the strep one did not. I’m gonna call the pharmacy for a prescription of antibiotics, and you need to get home and rest,” Elena said, “The fever should go down in a few days, but you shouldn’t be outside.”

“But what about the play?” Josie asked.

“You should be fine in time for that,” Elena said, and Mom gave Josie an encouraging smile, “I’m so excited for you, Jo. Damon can’t make it, he’s out of town, but Bonnie and I will be there.”

“Awesome!” Josie said, “Are you coming to Opening Night?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Aunt Elena said as she gave Caroline the pad for the prescription, “It’s a week from Friday, right?” Josie shook her head and said,

“No Aunt Elena, it’s this Friday.” Elena paused for a moment, and her smile faltered.

“Oh. This Friday?” she asked, and Josie nodded, “Oh sweetie, I don’t think you’ll be up for performing by then. If you really want to get better, you need to be resting your throat.”

“But I have to perform on Friday, I worked so hard!” Josie exclaimed. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but I can't let you do that, you won’t be well enough,” Elena said, “But there are three shows, right? Maybe you could do the last one on Sunday.”

“No one cares about that one!” Josie exclaimed, “Opening Night is the big one, I can’t miss that. There has to be someth-” Josie had to pause to cough. She felt her Mom hold her while Aunt Elena got her a glass of water. She took a sip of it and continued with, “There’s gotta be a spell, some potion that I can do to be better.”

“Even if there is, you’re in no state to find it,” Caroline said, “Look, I’ll talk to Aunt Bonnie, but right now I’m taking you home. You need to rest.” Josie fought the urge to yell at her Mother that rest was the last thing she wanted. This was so unfair! But she was tired, and her bed did sound kind of good, so she finished her water, and quietly thanked Elena for seeing her.

“You’re welcome. Care, just show the pharmacist that paper and he’ll give you the antibiotics,” she told her Mom, “Feel better, sweetie.”

“Thanks,” Josie mumbled. She and her Mom left the office, and Josie was glad when Mom let her stay in the car at the pharmacy. Caroline wasn’t in the pharmacy for long, and it wasn’t long before they were home, though she was at her Mom’s house, not Dad’s.

“We don’t want to risk Lizzie getting sick,” Caroline explained. Josie nodded and got out of the car. She kicked her shoes off at the door and went to her room. She shrugged her jacket off and removed her gloves before getting under her covers. She’d started feeling cold in the car, so she pulled the blankets closer around her. Caroline returned with the antibiotics, and gave Josie a pill and some water.

“Here, you’ll take two of these a day, alright?” Caroline asked. Josie nodded and took the pill. It was gross, but she was able to swallow it. Her Mom fixed her covers and said, “I’m gonna get a blanket from the hall closet. Do you want anything else?” Josie shook her head. Her Mom gave her a kiss on the forehead before going to get the blanket. Josie whimpered a bit as more chills came over her body. She felt ten times worse than she had at school. She pretty much yanked the blanket from her Mom when she came back, which was when Caroline saw her shaking.

“Oh baby,” she said. She wrapped the blanket around her and said, “I’m gonna get you a hot rag, maybe it’ll help you feel better.” Josie nodded and cuddled into the blanket. It took about an hour for the antibiotic to really kick in, and she started to get drowsy. Her Mom noticed this, and hummed her an old lullaby until she was asleep.

When Josie woke up a few hours later, the pain in her throat was killing her. She opened her mouth to call for her Mom, but all that came out was a hoarse croak. Dammit! Josie now felt extremely hot, so she shed all the blankets away and climbed out of bed. She stumbled a bit, but eventually made it to her dresser where she pulled out her favorite pajamas bottoms and Dear Evan Hansen t-shirt. She pulled off her school clothes and changed before going back to lie in her bed. There was a knock on her door right when she was about to get settled.

“Yeah Mom?” Josie asked. The door opened, but instead of her Mom coming in, it was Hope.

“Not your Mom,” Hope said with a small laugh. She pulled some soup out from under her coat, “I brought you some soup. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course,” Josie said. Hope never had to ask to come into her room. Her girlfriend came in and placed the soup on Josie’s desk before coming to sit on the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Hope asked.

“Awful,” Josie said, her voice coming out in a hoarse whisper. She coughed and said, “This is the literal worst time for me to get sick.” Hope pouted and gave her shoulders a small squeeze.

“Want me to get you anything? Some medicine or an extra pillow?”

“No, it’s okay,” Josie croaked, “You can lay down with me, though.” It was very pleasing to her that Hope couldn’t get sick, so she was still able to be close to her. Hope shed her jacket and laid down in the bed next to Josie, allowing her to snuggle up close. Josie rested her head on Hope’s shoulder and asked, “How was practice today?” Hope looked away for a second, “Hope?”

“I didn’t just come here to bring soup. There was something I needed to tell you.”

“What is it?” Josie asked. Had practice gone badly? Or had Hope gotten the stage fright again? Josie wondered if she had another video she could show Hope if she did. 

“I failed my geometry test,” Hope said.  _ Oh no! _ Josie gave her a sad look and said,

“Aww Hope, I’m sorry. Look, I’ve failed a test or two before, just let me see what you got on it, and I can help. I love geometry, I’m acing it.”

“No, what you need to do is rest. Your voice especially, the only reason I can hear what you’re saying is because I’m a vampire.”

“Dammit,” Josie grumbled. She rubbed her throat and asked, “Was my Mom making tea when you came?” Hope nodded and said,

“I think so. Lay down, I’ll get you a mug.” Hope got off the bed and went downstairs. Josie laid against her pillow and brought her blankets around her. She could hear Mom and Hope talking, so she knew the tea would be a while. She grabbed her laptop from the other side of the bed and opened it up to check her emails. It was mostly just her teachers, sending her work. She was responding back to her history teacher about a paper when there was a buzz. If it had been her phone, the notification would have shown up on her computer, so it was probably Hope’s. When it buzzed again, Josie decided to check it, so she pulled the phone from Hope’s jacket. It was a missed call and voicemail from Rebekah. Josie knew it wasn’t her business, but she and Hope had promised each other transparency, so she wouldn’t mind. Josie opened the voicemail, and her face paled as it played.

“Hope, you need to start answering my calls. I know Josie is sick and you want to be with her, but you need to get home right now. You might have to attend summer school, and you’re back on academic probation because of that test. You know what that means, right?”  _ Probation? Since when was Hope on probation? _ “Get home please, love. We need to talk about this.” The voicemail cut off after that, and Josie was left feeling numb. A few seconds later, the door opened and Hope came back in.

“Sorry, your Mom was getting pretty talkative, but one fresh cup of…” she trailed off when she saw the hurt look on Josie’s face, “Jo?”

“You’re on probation,” Josie said, “That means you can’t do the play.” Hope put the tea down and walked over to Josie.

“Look, I can explain-”

“You lied to me. When I asked if everything was okay, you lied and said it was. How could you not tell me about this?”

“I wanted to,” Hope said, “Really, I did. But you were so stressed out about the play, and I wanted everything to be perfect, then I got the stage fright and all that which just gave you more stress, and what were you doing on my phone in the first place?”

“The buzzing was bothering me, my head is kinda inflamed!” Josie snapped, which ended in her having a major coughing fit. Hope sighed and placed a hand on her back, gently patting it.

“Do you want me to get your Mom?” Hope asked, and Josie nodded.

“And then I think you need to leave,” she said.

“Jo-”

“Just go Hope! Rebekah wants to talk to you,” Josie said, pulling her knees in. Her throat was getting worse, so she took another sip of the tea while Hope put her jacket back on.

“I’ll call you later,” she said, “But about this probation thing. I’m sorry. Unless I get a whole array of assignments done by Friday night, I can’t perform. Maybe one of the ensemble can-”

“I’ll figure it out, Hope,” Josie croaked out, “Just go.” Hope gave her a small nod before leaning forward to give Josie a kiss, but the other girl turned her head. She really wasn’t in the mood right now. Hope seemed to get the hint because she murmured a small goodbye before leaving the room. It seemed she’d kept her word about getting her Mom, since Caroline came in a few seconds later.

“Is everything okay, baby?” Caroline asked.

“It seems like I’m not gonna be the only one missing Opening Night,” Josie said, “Hope is on probation, she can’t do the play.”

“You’re kidding!” Caroline exclaimed, coming to sit next to Josie, “I’m so sorry, sweetie. I know you were excited to do the play with her.” Josie shrugged and said,

“It’s whatever...I guess.” She wasn’t in the mood to talk, and Caroline noticed this and went,

“Okay, here’s your evening pill. Take this with your tea then try to lie down. I’m gonna bring the TV from downstairs in here so you can watch a movie, okay?”

“Sure,” Josie said, “Can you make me some soup, Mom?”

“Of course. Get some rest, I’ll be right back.” She left, and Josie took her pill before settling down. Her phone buzzed a few minutes later. It was a text from Hope, saying sorry. Josie shook her head and put the phone down. Sorry didn’t cut it this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, we're approaching the end here. Next chapter will see Hope and Josie figuring out what to do next, thanks to everyone who has been reading!


	27. Learn to Do It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lizzie, MG, and Rafael offer Hope some help

Hope had been texting Josie all night, but she hadn’t gotten a response. She’d called like she said she would, but Josie hadn’t picked up. She liked to think that she was sleeping, but she saw her like something on Facebook so that wasn’t the case. Hope was getting ignored, and she deserved it. She knew she should have told Josie about her grades, but she’d been kind of embarrassed. Josie would never have problems like that, and Hope didn’t want her to think she was dumb. And to make things worse, Aunt Rebekah was in a new state of furious with her. Hope had done none of what she’d promised in regards to school and the woman wasn’t pleased. Hope had been surprised when she’d gotten permission to go see Josie, not like that had even gone well. She tried to move her attention away from Josie and on to her physics homework, but she couldn’t. She felt so awful about the show. Josie couldn’t do it, and since Clara was gone, there was no understudy. Lizzie said there was a possibility they could end up cancelling the first two shows since they could no longer use the auditorium after this weekend. 

“Hope, dinner’s ready!” Rebekah called from downstairs.

“One second,” Hope said. She finished the question she’d been working on and closed the book. She went downstairs and saw Rebekah pouring blood in cups, but she also had pasta that smelled good.

“Aunt Rebekah, that looks delicious,” Hope said.

“Thanks,” she said, “I ordered it.” Made sense. She sat in her seat opposite her Aunt, and as she ate, she waited for any conversation to happen, but nothing. She was still mad. Hope ate her pasta in silence, and gave her Aunt hopeful looks any time she made eye contact with her. What was it gonna take? She was already going to summer school, so there was no use being mad now.

“So is this from the Italian place downtown or from-”

“Hope, I don’t want to talk right now,” Rebekah said. Hope wished she could talk to her. She even wished she’d yell or scold, it was better than the silent treatment. But she was really mad. Rebekah and Josie, the two most important people in Hope’s life, wouldn’t even talk to her.

“Fine,” she murmured. She finished her food and said, “I’m gonna go upstairs.” Rebekah gave her a small nod, and let her go. She put her dishes in the sink and headed up the stairs. She was just re entering her room when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, expecting Josie, so got a surprise when she saw the text was from the other Saltzman twin.

“I’m outside your house,” Hope read. Well that was blunt. Hope went to her window and saw Lizzie standing by the porch with her hands stuffed in her jacket pocket. Hope could see the other girl shiver so she decided to go talk to her. If she went downstairs, Rebekah would probably pause the silent treatment to ask why she wasn’t doing her homework, so instead she opened her window, and slid down the roof, making sure to stop herself at the gutter. She then leaped off and landed perfectly on her feet. Perks of being a werewolf. Lizzie, who’d been waiting for the door to open, nearly yelped in surprise when she saw Hope standing on the ground next to her.

“Mikaelson?” she asked.

“Hey Lizzie,” she said, “What’s going on?” Lizzie looked like she wanted to ask about the door, and Hope thought she wood, so she got surprised when she just continued on.

“I need your help,” Lizzie said, “Josie is out for the count and we still need to put on a show Friday. I talked to her, and besides that bitch Clara, the only person she could think of who could possibly handle the role is you.”

“Me?” Hope asked, and Lizzie nodded, “Um, I’m flattered, but I’m on academic probation, so I can’t do the play anyway. And even if I  _ could _ do the play, I have another role!”

“A role that I would be willing to cover on Friday and Saturday, and you can play when Josie comes back for the last show. But we need a Katherine for Friday, and you’re the only option.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t,” she said, “The only possible way for me to get off probation would be if I finished three geometry sets, a physics lab on centrifugal force, a ten page history paper on I don’t even know what, and memorize one hundred Spanish vocab words by Friday. That’s not happening.”

“If I said there was a way to get all that done in time, would you do it?”

“Sure, if it wasn’t in...two days!” Hope said. 

“Well luckily for you, I happen to be a pro at all those classes and have nothing going on this week besides putting on the perfect play, and if that means spending my Thursday night doing hours of work with you, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

“Really?” Lizzie nodded, “Okay, but what about practice tomorrow?”

“Cancelled. Everyone is mostly ready. You have your script, right?” 

“I do.”

“Read over the lines for Katherine, and try to memorize as much as you can. I know two days isn’t a lot, but like, you have magic. Use it?” Hope nodded and said,   


“I will. Goodnight Lizzie. Tell Josie I love her, will you?”

“Yeah okay,” she said, “See you tomorrow Mikaelson.” She was headed out to walk home when the door opened and Rebekah walked out.

“Hope, who is this?” she asked. Lizzie turned around and gave Rebekah a small wave, “Oh, good evening Elizabeth, I didn’t know Hope was expecting guests.”

“I was actually just leaving, I only stopped by for a moment. It was nice seeing you though,” Lizzie said, before turning to continue to leave. However, Rebekah noticed that she didn’t have a car, so she used her vampire speed to catch up to her and said,

“Hold on. I don’t need another person getting sick because I let them walk home in this weather. Come along, I’ll drive you.” Hope held in a groan. Rebekah was so embarrassing! 

“It’s really okay,” Lizzie said, “I’m wearing a bigger jacket-”

“Nonsense,” Rebekah said, “It’s getting dark as well, you shouldn’t be out alone this late. Come on, I promise I don’t bite.” Both Hope and Lizzie gave her confused looks, so she said, “Oh you know what I mean.” Hope gave Lizzie a look that suggested Rebekah wasn’t going to let up, so the siphoner relented and said,

“Sure, why not. Thank you Ms. Mikaelson.” Rebekah put an arm around Lizzie and walked her to the car while Hope watched from the porch. She shook her head and laughed before going inside to her room. She had a lot of work to do.

Josie was laying on her bed, bored out of her mind, flipping through channels. There was nothing good on, which was a real shame. The school day was about to end, so she hoped Lizzie would be home soon to spend time with her. Aunt Elena said strep wasn’t contagious after twenty four hours because of the antibiotics, which meant she and Lizzie could be in the same room. That sounded great, because only having Mom for company had been getting exhausting. There was a knock on the door and Mom came in.

“Hi sweetie,” she said, “I’m going to pick Lizzie up, then we’ll be back. Do you need me to get you anything while I’m out?”

“No, I’m okay,” Josie said, “Do Lizzie and Dad know what they’re doing with the play?”

“I talked to your sister, and she just said you don’t have to worry about it,” Caroline said, “Bye baby, I’ll be back soon.” She gave Josie a kiss on the temple and left the room. About an hour passed before anyone came home, which was weird. Her Mom walked in to Josie watching a commercial promoting a flavored water drink.

“When I say life, you say meaningless!” one of the cheerleaders in the commercial yelled. The team chanted, “Life!” And Josie croaked out,

“Meaningless!”

“Life!”

“Meaningless!”

“Life!”

“Meanin-”

“Josie!” Caroline said with a laugh, cutting her off, “What are you watching?”

“Not sure,” Josie said, shutting the TV off, “Where’s Lizzie?”

“Your sister had a commitment after school and said she’d be late, but she did drop off your work from your classes today. Your teachers say you can wait until you feel better to do it.”

“I already feel fine, my voice is slowly coming back and my throat barely hurts!” Josie complained, but raising her voice just led to a coughing fit. Her Mom shook her head and said,

“Just take it easy, honey. We don’t need you to start feeling worse, alright?” Josie just sighed and gave her Mom a small nod. Caroline put the school work on the desk and said, “For whenever you want to do it. I’m going to go make you some tea and bring you your medicine.”

“Thanks Mom,” Josie said as Caroline left the room. She then took her phone out and texted Lizzie, wondering what her commitment was.

“This is just not happening,” Hope said, looking into the mirror. She was dressed in Josie’s Katherine costume which was way too big on her, and she looked ridiculous.

“Relax, I just need to pin it up,” Lizzie said from her spot on the floor.

“We’re never going to pull this off,” Hope said, “I stayed up all night working and I still have so much homework to catch up on, and more lines to learn. Plus Watch What Happens is an incredibly hard song! How does Josie have that breath control as a human? If I wasn’t a tribrid, I would literally be stopping at every line!”

“Relax. I’m going to get this costume right, and then we  _ will _ pull this off,” Lizzie said, “And as for your homework, I’ve called reinforcements for that.”

“Who?” Hope asked, just as there was a knock on her front door.

“And that would be them,” Lizzie said, “Don’t move, you might mess up the hem line.” Lizzie went downstairs to get the door right as her phone buzzed. Hope leaned her head back to see the notification, and saw that it was Josie, asking where Lizzie was. Hope debated on whether or not she should answer the text for Lizzie, ultimately choosing not to. Josie hadn’t said a word to her since she’d left her house last night, and she probably wouldn’t end that silent treatment now. Lizzie came upstairs with Rafael and MG behind her. 

“May I present to you the top history student,” she said, pointing to Raf, “And the top physics,” she continued, pointing to MG.

“You guys, you really don’t have to-” Hope started, but Rafael cut her off with,

“We want to. Plus, I finished my paper a few days ago and can give you some pointers. And, not to mention that you and I have some scenes we’re going to have to run if you want to be ready for tomorrow. And I’ve got nowhere to be so…”

“Me neither,” MG said, “Get ready to work Hope Mikaelson, because we’re here all night!” Hope would need to get out of this costume first. Luckily for her, Lizzie was just about done with the pins.

“Okay, try that,” she said. Hope stepped off the stool she’d been standing on and walked in the costume. It still felt really big on her, but she could move in it, so that was a start, right?

“It’s not bad, I can walk in it,” Hope said.

“Can you dance in it? Because there’s a tap solo at the top of Act II.”  _ Well then. _

“I’ll try,” Hope said. This was going to be a disaster. MG and Raf went downstairs to get their books out, and Lizzie helped Hope out of the costume.

“I’ll get this pressed tomorrow afternoon before the show starts,” Lizzie said, “The show starts at eight, so we’ll have time. We’ll fit the costume then practice it on stage. Do you have dance shoes?”

“No,” Hope said, “But I have my shoes for Crutchie. Those will be fine, right?”

“No, you need tap shoes,” Lizzie said, “I’ll get some for you, don’t worry about it. Just be ready to move  _ a lot _ tomorrow.” Hope nodded as she pulled her penguin T-shirt back on. It still faintly smelled of Josie. Oh how she missed her. She slid her skirt on and put two fuzzy socks on her feet. She’d put her heeled boots on, but Lizzie had made it clear that she would not be able to practice dancing in those, so she decided to just go with socks.

“I’ll be ready,” Hope said, “So...how is this studying regime going to work?” A huge smile spread across Lizzie’s face as she said,

“I’m so glad you asked.”

Hope watched as Lizzie pulled up a song on her phone, and Raf and MG pulled their books out. Hope expected it to be a song from a show, but an instrumental for a different song played.

“When Josie was learning how to sing, she’d often play this song to help her out. She then realized she could make up her own lyrics to help her learn anything she wanted,” Lizzie said.

“I’m not as musically trained as Josie is,” Hope said.

“Just try it,” MG said, “You’ll never know if you don’t try.” The music continued, and Hope said,

“How do you become the lead of the play in one night?” Lizzie sighed, took her shoulders and said,   
“Take a deep breath. Close your eyes, and imagine yourself standing on that stage.” Hope did as Lizzie asked, and saw herself standing on the stage in the big costume. She was starting to get nervous again when Rafael’s calm voice began to sing, 

“You’re on stage with the world at your feet. Dancing like a queen.”

“Could it be?” Hope asked in awe, opening her eyes.

“Yes it’s so,” MG chimed in. 

“Anyone can learn how to dance at any age,” Lizzie said, then started to sing, “I learned to dance when I was only two.” Rafael was shocked.

“Dancing lessons, you?”

“Yes. Uh...teacher’s name?”

“Romeo,” MG answered for her, and it made both Hope and Rafael laugh. Rafael then moved his hands to hold Hope, and started to sing,

“Keep yourself balanced, and bend your knees like this.” She followed his poses.

“And strike that pose!” Lizzie said.

“Work that look,” MG added, as Hope lost her footing and fell down. MG helped her up, “And all this has to do with Newton Force! Imagine how to twirl,” he twirled her around, “Physics helped in the past.” She regained her stance and her three teachers sang,

“We’ve lots and lots to teach you and the time is going fast!” Lizzie grabbed her and said,

“Let’s see your stance, come on first position!” Hope attempted to get it right, but she was clearly failing because MG took her and said,

“Now, shoulders back and stand up tall and do not walk, but try to float.” Hope practiced the walk he was demonstrating and said,

“I feel a little foolish. Am I floating?”

“Like a sinking boat,” Lizzie grumbled from where she was standing. Rafael cut in, took her hand in his and said,

“You give a bow.”

“What happens now?” Hope asked.

“You tap your feet like this,” Lizzie said. She demonstrated the tap dance, and Hope attempted to follow it, but she wasn’t getting it.

“Most of all remember this,” the three of them sang. Rafael came next to her and sang,

“If I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it.” He then demonstrated the tap dance perfectly. Hope followed his lead and found herself not tripping over her feet. This wasn’t too bad!

“Something in you knows it,” MG said, noting her progress.

“There’s nothing to it!” Lizzie added happily. Rafael continued the dance and sang,

“Follow in my footsteps. Shoe by shoe. You can learn to do it too!” Hope and Rafael went over the tap dance two more times until she was finally able to do it on her own.

“And now...math,” MG said, and the four of them moved from the living room to the kitchen table. Sat in front of her books, Hope read the problems in the set. There was a pinned list of rules to know for graphing near the top. Hopefully that helped. As she graphed MG continued with,

“Now, pencils in, keep your lines straight.”

“And don’t forget to check your pins,” Lizzie added, pointing to the rules. Hope scoffed and said,

“I never cared for checking pins!”  
“She said that like a Mikaelson,” Lizzie said, almost under her breath. _Hey!_

“The properties, the triangles!” Rafael exclaimed at the last problem. This was exhausting! There were so many rules!

“One more problem, then goodnight?” Hope asked. The three of them shook their heads and said,

“Not until you get this right!”  _ Oh dear. _

“If I can learn to do it,” Rafael said.

“If he can learn to do it,” MG added.

“You can learn to do it.”

“You can learn to do it,” MG almost whispered.

“Pull yourself together,” Rafael continued.

“And you’ll pull through it,” Raf, Lizzie, and MG sang.

“Tell yourself it’s easy,” MG said as Hope started to graph her triangle.

“And it’s true!” the three of them said.

“You can learn to do it to,” Rafael sang as Hope finished her triangle. Lizzie compared it to hers that she’d gotten it right, and deemed it perfect.

“Now to history,” Rafael said, pulling some cards from his pack, “I study with flashcards, it makes it easier to keep all the information together. Now, I’m just gonna do a fire round of questions, and you’re gonna answer them, okay?”

“Okay,” Hope said. Rafael pulled the cards out, and went with the music.

“Sixteenth president?” he asked. Easy.

“Abraham Lincoln.”

“Forty first president.” Oof, that was kinda tough.

“Uh...not that George Bush, but his father! Who was also George Bush!” Hope said.

“The New Deal is?”

“Ended the Great Depression,” Hope said confidently, so was upset when Rafael said,

“Wrong. The New Deal Is…?” Hope, getting annoyed with the condescension in his tone said,

“I know what the New Deal is!”

“What a temper,” Lizzie said.  _ Shut it Saltzman! _

“I don’t like being contradicted!” Hope snapped at the girl.

“Well that makes two of us!” Lizzie fired back.

“Continuing on,” Rafael said, in an attempt to make peace, but Hope was done. She slammed her book down on the table and said,

“I’ve had it! And I hate you all, I’m sorry that we ever met. I’m hungry, and I’m tired, and there’s only one day don’t forget. I don’t remember anything, get out and let me be!” She punctuated that by smacking Lizzie on the arm with her textbook, eliciting a pained yell from the girl, before storming upstairs to her room. She sat alone up there for a few minutes until MG and Raf came upstairs. She tried to turn away, but Rafael took her shoulders and went,

“Hope, please. Look at me. We’re all tired. Well slightly, now and then. Shall we start again? Take a breath, count to ten. You have courage and strength you barely know.” MG jumped on the other side of her and said,

“So blow that little nose. And dry those pretty eyes. A tribrid of your influence can do this if she tries. Ready?” Hope nodded and said,

“Set, go!” The three of them went downstairs to where Lizzie was putting ice on her arm. Hope walked over to her and said, “I’m sorry. I was just a little stressed.”

“It’s cool,” Lizzie said, “Really, I didn’t mean to pressure you. Ready for Spanish?” Hope nodded, and Lizzie started the music again. She opened the Spanish workbook and started with,

“Now here’s your subject pronouns. How you use them in a sentence…”

“Oh,” Hope said. These mechanics were a lot.

“And then the preterite...used in this sense.”

“Got it, Hope?” Rafael asked. She shook her head.”

“No!”

“You use imperfect to repeat,” Lizzie continued, “And this verb means…”  _ Wait she knew this. _

“It means to eat!”

“And this one?”

“Means I want to have.”

“Then when you use it in this tense?”

“Means I would have a yellow cat!” Hope said, even though they hadn’t gotten to the conditional tense yet. MG smiled and said,

“I don’t believe we taught her that.” Hope let out a giddy laugh as he continued, “If you can learnt to do it!” Hope beamed and said,

“If I can learn to do it…”

“He can learn to do it,” Rafael said, giving MG a playful shove.

“You can learn to do it,” Hope said with a nod.

“Pull yourself together,” Lizzie said, then along with Raf and MG went,

“And we’ll pull through it!”

“Tell yourself it’s easy,” Rafael said.

“And it’s true,” all four of them said.

“You can learn to do it,” Rafael continued.

“Nothing to it,” Hope said as MG and Raf lifted her up to the table.

“You can learn to do it…” MG, Rafael, and Lizzie said before looking to Hope. She cleared her throat and recited,

“The triangle, and then the pins, the properties, the yellow cat, Newton Force, New Deal was short, here to eat and there to have. The teacher’s name was Romeo so tell me something new.” She beamed proudly and put her hands on her hips.

“You can learn to do it, too!” They all sang as Hope jumped from the table, did the tap dance, and landed right on her feet. 

A few hours later, Hope had a blood bag in her, and she’d finished all her problems set, memorized her words for Spanish, and her lab and paper were halfway done. Having all the help really was making this easy on her. 

“Remember,” MG said, “When writing in this equation, you have to specify what all the characters mean, or she’ll take off.”

“Yep, I got it,” Hope said. Lizzie, who’d been working on the hem of the dress to make it a little shorter, got a text and said,

“Well, I’ve gotta head out in twenty minutes. My Mom has to take me home before the council meeting.” Hope froze and said,

“The council meeting is today?” Lizzie nodded, “Oh crap!” Hope jumped from the table and went to the fridge, pulling out the package of frozen bananas.

“What the hell are you doing?” MG asked.

“At the last meeting my magic got out of control and I ruined Rebekah’s banana smoothies so I thought I’d make her some for her next meeting, but I kind of forgot about that.” Hope said. She tore the bag open and let the frozen banana chunks fall onto the cutting board.

“Is that going to take long?” Lizzie asked, “Because I need you to try this.”

“Yeah, and the computer is ready to do the next trial for the lab,” MG said. Hope nodded and attempted to cut the bananas up, but they were still frozen.

“Those need to thaw,” Lizzie said.

“I realized,” Hope said. She tried to think of a spell to get it done right away, but she couldn’t think of one at the top of her head, so she asked, “Lizzie, can you find a spell to thaw these?”

“Sure, but try the dress on. If this doesn’t work I’ll have to go to the tailor.” Hope took the dress from her and went to put it on in the downstairs bathroom. She’d just slid it over her outfit when she heard a crash from the kitchen. She quickly ran out and saw Lizzie slapping the top of the blender with a spoon. Hope took it from her and asked,

“What are you doing?”

“Well I thawed the bananas, but the blender isn’t blending!” she complained, and Hops sighed before looking over the controls. They were a lot different than the old one.

“Hope, we need to do the next trial,” MG said from the computer.

“I’m coming,” Hope said. She walked over to the table, and inputted the data for the simulation, before going back to Lizzie who needed to look at the dress.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“It definitely feels a lot less heavy,” Hope said, “But I don’t know Lizzie, I still don’t think I’m going to be able to do this.”

“Sure you will,” she said, “You have the dance down without the costume, and you’ll get to pull the skirt up a bit for the solo so you won’t have to worry about tripping.”

“Alright, if you say so,” Hope said. She had to leave Lizzie to input the data in for her lab, but lucky for her, it was the last trial, “Okay, all I need for the lab is a conclusion, and my history paper still needs five more pages, but I might be able to get those done by myself.”

“Do you have the notes I gave you?” Rafael asked, and Hope nodded.

“Yep, all pinned down,” she said, and Lizzie snorted at her mention of pins. Hope shot her a glare and said, “Yes, I have a new appreciation for the pins!” Lizzie scoffed and MG laughed. 

“Alright cool,” Rafael said, “They should be enough for five pages, and if not just go up a font size. I promise they won’t notice.”

“Got it,” Hope said, “And the lab is near done, I think I can put together a somewhat good conclusion. Now if I can get this blender to work…” 

“I pressed every button on there, none of them worked,” Lizzie said. Hope looked over the blender, and as she added yogurt to the smoother, she saw that the chord wasn’t plugged in.

“Did you try plugging it in?” she asked her. Lizzie scoffed, went to the blender and said,

“Of course I-” Hope smirked and showed her the chord. She glared at her and said, “Fine. Maybe I didn’t.” Hope shook her head and plugged the chord in. The buttons lit up, and she decided to go simple and press the big one in the middle. It whirred loudly, and she had to keep a hand on top of the blender. Rebekah must have gotten one with more power. 

“Now this is a nice blender,” MG said once Hope turned it off, “You didn’t even have to mix it up or anything afterwards.”

“Right?” Hope said as she poured the smoothie into Rebekah’s pitcher, “Let me see if this tastes good.” She was going to grab a spoon when Lizzie pulled her away and said,

“Uh huh, we can’t risk ruining the costume. Take it off first.” Hope went back to the bathroom to take the dress off, and returned it to Lizzie, “Thank you.” Hope then placed a spoon into the blender and scraped some smoothie off the side. She tasted it and said,

“Mmm, this is really good. Here.” Hope grabbed a to go coffee cup from the cabinet and poured some in from the blender, “Maybe Josie will want some.” She knew banana was Josie’s favorite fruit, and the smoothie really was delicious.

“Cool,” Lizzie said as she got a text, “And right on time. My Mom’s here. She picked the costume up, grabbed her backpack, and said, “Hope, try doing the dance some more, and go over your lines. You need to be off book by tomorrow.” Hope checked the clock and saw that it was approaching 9. Damn, she had less than 24 hours now.

“Sure, I’ll get it done,” she said, “Thank you guys, really. I probably wouldn’t have been able to get any of this done without your help.”

“No problem,” Rafael said, giving her a hug, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Hope.”

“Bye,” Hope said. MG gave her a side hug before running off after Rafael and Lizzie, who were already out the door. Hope shut the door behind them, and was cleaning up the kitchen when the door opened, and Rebekah came in looking frazzled.

“Hey Aunt Bex,” Hope said, “How was work?”

“Long,” Rebekah said. She saw the mess in the kitchen and said, “I do hope you’ll be cleaning all of this up.” Hope nodded and said,

“Yeah, I’m on that. I made this for you. For your meeting,” Hope said, gesturing to the pitcher. A soft look crossed Rebekah’s face at the sight of the smoothie, and she said,

“Thank you, darling. You know you didn’t have to-”

“I know,” Hope said, cutting her off, “I wanted to. And I also have pretty much all of my homework done. If I get it all turned in tomorrow with at least a B, they’ll take me off probation. I’ll probably still have to do summer school, but I can do the play.”

“That’s wonderful sweetheart, I really love that initiative,” Rebekah said. She then put a hand on Hope’s shoulder and said, “I’m sorry I’ve been so hard on you these past couple of days. I was just worried that you weren’t really thinking about your responsibilities, and I didn’t want you to fall off track. Plus the magical outbursts were a little concerning.”

“Yeah, I guess I’d been struggling a bit. Stage fright and all,” Hope said, “But uh, I think that I was kinda holding myself back, and I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“I’m glad, love,” Rebekah said, “Come here.” She gave her a hug and said, “You are capable of whatever you set your mind to, I promise that.”

“Thanks Aunt Rebekah,” Hope said, “Wanna hear the crazy news?” Rebekah nodded, “I will be playing Josie’s role for tomorrow and Saturday.” A wide smile spread across her Aunt’s face and she said,

“Oh Hope that’s amazing! Sad for Josie, but amazing for you!”

“I know, I’m actually kind of excited,” Hope said, “Is that weird?”

“No no, not all. You and Josie love each other, she’ll understand.” Hope nodded slowly, hoping Rebekah was right. Maybe she should go over there? Rebekah and Caroline would both be out, so they’d be able to be alone...well, alone plus Lizzie. But she did have a lot of lines to practice, and she knew she’d make Josie feel a lot better if she worked to make the play great. Plus the kitchen was still a mess…

“I need to go,” Rebekah said, “Thank you for the smoothies, they’ll be appreciated.” She grabbed the pitcher, gave Hope a kiss on the cheek, then left to go back to her car. Once she was alone, Hope went back to the speaker, and turned on the song Lizzie had played earlier. She had lines to learn.

Josie was half asleep and watching  _ Into the Woods _ when Lizzie finally got home, turning the light on in her room as she came in.

“Liz, where have you been?” Josie croaked as she pulled herself to a sitting position. Her Katherine costume was draped over Lizzie’s shoulder, and was holding a coffee mug.  _ Why the hell was she drinking coffee this late? _

“I’ve been at Hope’s house,” she said casually, “She’s gonna play Katherine in the show tomorrow.” Josie perked up.

“She is?” Lizzie nodded, “Wha-how did you convince her?”

“Easy. I said it would mean a lot to you. Plus, I think she’s starting to enjoy being an actor. She was having way too much fun learning the dance.”

“Oh yeah?” Josie asked. She pictured Hope in the costume and doing the tap dance during King of New York. At the beginning of the year, that role had been all that mattered to her. Now she was just sad that she was gonna miss her girlfriend perform it, “Do you think you could record it for me?”

“I’ll do you one better,” Lizzie said. She opened her backpack and pulled out a crystal that looked kind of familiar, but Josie didn’t know why.

“What is that?” Josie asked.

“Astral projection,” Lizzie said, “That way you can watch the performance without having to even get out of bed, so you won’t get more sick.”

“Where did you even get this? Aunt Bonnie said we wouldn’t be ready to use this by ourselves until we were older,” Josie said, admiring the crystal.

“She left her artifacts door unlocked, and I got it before Mom picked me up. Just use it tomorrow, and I’ll return it before she realizes it’s gone.”

“Lizzie, this is amazing!” Josie said, “But uh, don’t tell Hope about this, okay? I don’t want her to know I’m coming. She thinks I’m mad at her, so I don’t wanna make her nervous.”

“Sure, but why does she think you’re mad at her?” Josie shrugged and said,

“Last night, we kinda got into an argument. I was upset about her not telling me about how bad her grades were, and I yelled at her, which I shouldn’t have done.”

“You’re allowed to be upset with her for keeping things from you.”

“Maybe, but I felt awful after the left,” Josie admitted, “I was feeling really bad, and I was upset about the play, so I think I took it out on her. That wasn’t the right call.”

“Then tell her that,” Lizzie said, “She’ll be glad to hear it.” Josie just nodded slowly, “You know what’s funny?” 

“What?” Josie asked.

“That Hope was only in this play as punishment, and now she’s basically fighting to be in it. Isn’t that wild to think about?”

“Yeah, wow,” Josie said, “I didn’t even realize.”

“It’s been a long year,” Lizzie mused.

“It’s January,” Josie said.

“I stand by my point.” Josie laughed at that, and was glad she was able to without coughing. Though she was getting kind of thirsty, 

“Is that coffee?” she asked, pointing to the cup.

“Oh, no,” Lizzie said, “Hope made you a banana smoothie.” 

“She did?” Josie asked, and Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“You two are way too mushy. It’s nauseating,” she said, “Mom said you can’t have anything cold, so I’ll put it in the fridge for you.”

“Oh boo,” Josie said, pouting angrily.

“Hey, her rules, not mine. Do you want some hot chocolate?” Josie nodded eagerly. “I’ll go get some and bring it back.” Lizzie left the room with the costume and cup, and Josie turned her movie back on. While it played, she picked up her phone from her desk, and texted Hope.

“Hey babe, I’m sorry for being MIA today. I don’t want you to think that I’m mad at your or anything. I had a bad day yesterday, and I shouldn’t have gotten mad. I love you, and I know you’re going to be the best Katherine tomorrow. I can’t wait to see you again on Sunday.” She added a heart and sent the message. A few minutes later, she got a response.

“I love you too, Josie. Don’t feel bad for getting mad. You had every right to be. I should have been honest with you from the start about what was happening in school. I’m so sorry I wasn’t.”

“You never have to apologize to me, remember?” Josie texted back.

“Using my own words against me...nice,” Hope responded.

“Yeah well, I mean it. Seriously.”

“Yeah I meant it too. Ugh, I gotta go. There’s a whole other list of Spanish verbs I need to have down by tomorrow. I’ll call you later though, okay?”

“Okay, goodnight Hope. And good luck with the Spanish.”

“Gracias!” Hope responded, along with a gif of a cat dancing. Josie shook her head. Hope always sent the most random gifs. Josie turned her phone off and focused her attention back to the movie right as Lizzie came back with cocoa.

“You look happier,” Lizzie commented.

“I am,” Josie said, taking the mug from her, “I just talked with Hope and we cleared everything up. Now all I have to worry about is how to use this crystal right.”

“I have a picture of the spell,” Lizzie said, “I’ll send it to you tomorrow. So, what are we watching?” Josie took a sip of cocoa and said,

“ _ Into the Woods _ .” Lizzie let out a loud groan at the prospect of having to watch a musical, while Josie just giggled. She loved having control of the remote!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all liked my parody of "Learn to Do It" hehe. 2 chapters left...


	28. Perfect For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opening Night of the play

When Friday afternoon rolled around the next day, Hope was stressed. It was weird though because she didn’t have a reason to be. Her teachers had accepted her assignments and she was off probation, so she could perform, plus she knew her lines and she and Lizzie had gone through the dance during lunch, so there wasn’t much work left to do with that. But her stomach felt almost knotted. It was a weird feeling that she couldn’t explain, but she felt sick. At first she thought it was stage fright, but she didn’t feel nervous about performing, in fact she was kind of excited. She walked into the theatre to meet Lizzie, who had her head in a spell book.

“What are you doing?” Hope asked the girl, who quickly shut the book.

“Nothing!” she said defensively.

“Oh yeah? Why can’t I see what you’re up to then?” Hope asked.

“Because it’s not your business. Come on, I need to fit you in your costume, and then we need to run through King of New York. Let’s go let’s go,” Lizzie said, clapping her hands. Hope shook her head and followed the girl to the dressing room backstage.

“Lizzie, I’m not feeling too good,” Hope told her as Lizzie pulled the dress over her head.

“What do you mean? I thought you said you got the dance during lunch,” Lizzie said.

“I know, and I did, it’s just that...I don’t know. My stomach is in knots, and I don’t know why. I thought it was just stage fright, but Josie got me through that, so I don’t know why I still feel bad.”

“Maybe you need to feed,” Lizzie suggested.

“No, I had some blood during lunch,” Hope said.

“I know. But I mean actually feed, from a neck,” Lizzie said. Hope frowned, “Look, I know it sounds bad, but anytime my Mom gets into moods or starts to feel sick, feeding from the neck helps. She says it happens when a vampire goes too long without having fresh blood.”

“Okay, if that works. But who would I feed on, everyone in this town takes vervain, plus I don’t know if I’d be able to control myself.”

“Didn’t your family help you with that or something?” Lizzie asked.

“I mean yeah, but it’s just been so long,” Hope said, “I’m worried that if I feed directly from someone I’d go too far.”

“Then we get you fresh blood without feeding,” she said.

“From where?” Hope asked. Lizzie smoothed down the dress and said,

“First things first. How does that feel?”

“Good,” Hope said, “A lot better than last night. How’d you manage that? Josie’s like half a foot taller than me.”

“Never underestimate how well I sew. Now, take it off and hang it. We’re going hunting.”

“That’s so weird of you to say,” Hope said as she unzipped the dress.

“Hurry up, Mikaelson, time’s a wastin’,” Lizzie said, grabbing her backpack. Hope sighed and changed back into her clothes. She hoped Lizzie had a good idea in mind.

Josie skimmed through the spellbook in front of her. Lizzie hadn’t texted her back with knowledge of the spell, so she was on her own at the moment. There was a knock on her door, so she quickly put the book under her pillow and said,

“Come in.” Her Mom entered and said,

“I know you’re bummed about the play, so I bought your favorite movie, and I thought we could make popcorn and watch it together.”

“Don’t you want to watch Lizzie in the play?” Josie asked. She loved her Mom, but she really needed to be alone to do this spell.

“Your Dad is going today, and I’m gonna go tomorrow while he stays with you,” Caroline said.

“Mom, I can manage being here by myself,” Josie said, “I’ll take the antibiotic at six and then I should be okay. You should go, you already have the tickets.”

“Baby I don’t want to leave you here if you’re sick,” Caroline said.

“Mom, I’m fine. Aunt Elena even said I’m not contagious anymore. I honestly don’t understand why I can’t just go and perform tonight.”

“Hey, you need to rest,” Caroline said, moving to sit with her. She moved some hair out of Josie’s face and said, “But if you really think you’ll be okay…”

“I will be, I promise!” Josie said, “Go have fun, you’ll see me when you get back.”

“I’m keeping my phone on,” Caroline said, “Call if you need me, and I’ll be there.”

“It’s rude to keep your phone on during a show,” Josie said.

“I’ll keep it on low volume,” Caroline said, giving her a kiss on the forehead, “I’m going to get some work done before I go, then I’ll head out in a few hours. Do you need anything right now?”

“I’m good,” Josie said, “Have fun tonight.”

“I will, but I’ll miss you,” Caroline said. She gave her a squeeze before heading out of the room. She shut the door behind her, and Josie waited a few more seconds before pulling the spellbook out. She flipped to the page she’d been at, then kept going until she reached the section about projections. She scanned through it until she saw a picture of the crystal, and as she read, she realized that she and Lizzie had made a mistake. She grabbed her phone and dialed Lizzie’s number. It took a few rings, but her sister eventually picked up.

“Jo? What’s going on?” Lizzie asked.

“We’re doing the spell wrong. I think you’re supposed to have the crystal, and then that will bring me to you,” Josie said.

“Oh yeah, that makes a lot more sense,” Lizzie said, “I’ll swing by and get it on the way back to school.” Josie frowned.

“You aren’t at the school right now?”

“No I’m with-” she started to explain, but she was cut off by Hope’s voice in the background.

“Lizzie! This idea was so fucking stupid!” she heard the girl yell.

“Hope, why are you up so far? You’re gonna fall!” Josie heard Lizzie exclaim, right before there was a giant crash.

“What is going on?” Josie asked.

“Your girlfriend is a dumbass, that’s what. I gotta go, she’s stuck under something. I should be there soon. Love you!”

“Love you-” Josie started, but the line cut off, “Too.” Josie made a note to ask Hope about that later before going through the spell again to see if there was anything she needed to do.

Hope watched as Lizzie hung up the phone before running over to her, where she was now stuck under a collapsed tree branch.

“Took you long enough,” she grumbled as Lizzie moved the branches.

“Sorry,” she said very unapologetically, “But you were doing it all wrong. I told you not to climb up in the trees if it wasn’t necessary.” She pulled Hope out of the rubble of the branches, and as Hope dusted herself off, she said,

“You know, when you said we were going hunting, I didn’t think you meant animals.”

“Who doesn’t mean animals in respect to hunting?” Lizzie asked. Hope sighed and said,

“Well I lost the rabbit, the squirrel, and now the finch, so this clearly isn’t working. Can we just go and get Cinnabon?”

“How is Cinnabon going to help you?”

“Not sure, but it’s a lot better than this,” Hope said. As she dusted leaves and snow off her shoulders, Lizzie picked up a rock. Hope wasn’t sure what she was going to do until she flung it, and Hope let out a small squeak as it crushed a mouse. “What the hell was that for?”

“You need to eat, otherwise you could lose control on stage, and I promise you that fatality rate will be a lot worse than this mouse,” Lizzie said. She picked it up by its tail and said, “You don’t even need to take too much. My Mom will only take a sip or two.”

“Please don’t refer to it as sips,” Hope said as she took the carcass from Lizzie, “I can’t believe there are vampires who do this every day.”

“What, your family never drank animal blood?”

“From what I know, no. They probably fed from people, but they switched to the bags as I got older. It was a lot less violent that way.”

“Maybe, but that isn’t fresh. And you’re gonna need fresh blood if you want to feel better. I promise this will work, just try a bit.”

“Fine,” Hope said, “Can you uh...can you be somewhere else?” Lizzie rolled her eyes and walked off, giving Hope and the mouse some privacy. 

“I’m sorry little guy,” she said to the mouse, “If it’s any consolation, you’re really helping me out. I have to do well in this play, nothing has ever mattered more to me. So uh, we cool?”

“Hope, why are you talking to the mouse?” she heard Lizzie ask.

“Shut up!” Hope snapped.

“We need to go soon,” Lizzie said. Hope sighed and looked at the mouse.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. She let her fangs out and tore into the house. The hot blood was nearly overwhelming in her mouth. Hope took another bite of the mouse, and let the taste wash over her tongue. It was nowhere near as good as human blood, but the fact that it was warm made her feel so nice. She finished with the mouse after taking a bit more, then started to dig a hole in the snow. She placed the body in the hold and was covering it up when Lizzie came back.

“Did it work?” LIzzie asked.

“I think so,” Hope said as she finished covering the body, “I feel better, but poor mousey.” 

“I’m sorry,” Lizzie said, “I shouldn’t have forced you to do that.”

“You didn’t force me, it was my choice too,” Hope said. She stood up and said, “Do you have a breath mint though? I can still taste it.”

“Here,” Lizzie said, handing her a box of Altoids. Hope took two, and as she chewed them said,

“We’re still going to Cinnabon. Come on, we have time!”

“Fine, but we need to stop at my house, I have to pick something up.”

“Perfect, I’ll say hi to Josie!” Hope said excitedly before skipping off, all thoughts of the mouse left far behind.

“How can you not like Cinnabon?” Hope asked as she walked next to Lizzie, “It’s literal happiness in a cinnamon roll.”

“I don’t like cinnamon rolls,” Lizzie said, “The filling is two sweet.”

“Your loss,” Hope said around a bite, “Seriously, big loss.” The two of them walked up the steps to Lizzie’s house, and she said,

“Josie’s in her room, I’ll just go check on her, then you can head up.”

“Cool, thanks Lizzie,” Hope said. She waited in the kitchen while she finished her cinnamon roll, and when Lizzie came down she said,

“You can go up now, but keep it short, we gotta head out of here soon.”

“Sure,” Hope said, grabbing the Cinnabon box before going upstairs. She went to Josie’s room and knocked happily.

“Come in,” her girlfriend said. Hope walked in and smiled when she saw Josie. She looked a lot better than when she’d last seen her. Her smile was back, and she no longer looked like she was in pain. Plus she looked extremely cute in the yellow shirt she was wearing. Yellow really was her color. Hope hopped on the bed with her and asked,

“Hey babe, how are you feeling?”

“A lot better,” Josie admitted, “The first night was the worst, but I’ve been slowly getting better since. I’ll be all good for Sunday, I honestly feel fine now. But I can’t wait to watch you perform. On the video of course.”

“I wish you could be there,” Hope said, taking her hands, “It would really help.”

“Stage fright again?” Josie asked. Hope shook her head,

“Nothing like that. Just jitters. I’m actually kind of excited, just sad that you won’t be there.”

“I’ll be there in spirit,” Josie said, “What’s in the box there?”

“Oh, I brought you some cinnamon rolls,” Hope said.

“Ah! I love these,” Josie said, “Thank you so much.” She opened the box and let out a little squeal at the rolls inside. As she ate, she asked, “So tell me, how did learning the songs go?”

“Pretty well actually,” Hope said, “I can work with Raf pretty well, and I was finally able to hold all the notes in  _ Watch What Happens _ last night. That song is  _ hard _ .”

“I know, it took me weeks. But I know you’re gonna nail it,” Josie said.

“I know. I just-”

“Mikaelson! We need to go!” Liizzie shouted from downstairs.

“And that’s my cue,” Hope said. She gave Josie a kiss on the cheek and said, “I’ll come by after the show and tell you how it went, alright?”

“Sounds good. I love you.”

“Love you too.” 

“Break a leg,” Josie said with a smile. Hope gave her another kiss before heading down the stairs to meet with Lizzie, who was making a peanut butter sandwich.

“You ready to go?” Hope asked.

“Uh huh,” Lizzie said, stuffing the sandwich in her mouth, “Let’s rock and roll.” Hope stifled a laugh at her muffled voice before following her out of the house. She was ready!

Josie checked the time on the clock. It was five minutes from showtime and Lizzie hadn’t done the spell yet. She was getting a little stressed. She’d tried texting her, but she wasn’t answering any of them. She tried her again, texting,

“Lizzie, why haven’t you done the spell yet? I don’t want to miss anything!” Josie was hovering her finger over the arrow to send it when she disappeared from the bed. Her senses went almost dormant for a bit, but when she came to, she was in the school auditorium. Lizzie was standing in front of her, holding the crystal.

“Okay, so I was having some trouble, but I think I got it. It’s going to be a little harder than we thought though. If you get out of range with the crystal, then you’ll be back in your room. And since I did the spell, I have to hold it.”

“How much is the range?” Josie asked.

“About thirty feet,” Lizzie said.

“That’s barely anything!”

“It’s the best we can do,” Lizzie said, “I think we were supposed to both have one which would have given us more range, but Aunt Bonnie only had one!”

“Lizzie, you’re supposed to go on stage, where am I supposed to go when that happens?” Josie asked, “And how are you gonna keep the crystal with you?!”

“I’ve got that covered,” Lizzie said, gesturing to the satchel she was wearing, “And...I guess you’ll just have to come backstage with me.”

“But what if Hope sees me?”

“She’ll be busy on stage, and I’ll keep you hidden,” Lizzie said, “And when I’m on stage...you can just hide on the scaffolding.”

“This is gonna end so badly,” Josie said, “The entire cast thinks I’m home sick, what are they gonna say when they see me?”

“They’re not going to see you. Plus, we’re lucky because the cast is a lot smaller considering what happened with the gloss that one day-”

“Maybe we should let this go. Mom will just record the performance,” Josie said.

“No way, we’ll make this work,” Lizzie said, “Come on, we’re way in the open right now, the curtain is about to go down, and I’m in the first scene. Come on, hurry!” She grabbed Josie’s arm and pulled her with her backstage. The minute they got there, Hope was the first person Josie saw. Her heart almost melted at the sight of Hope in the costume. She looked so good! Lizzie shoved Josie behind the giant camera before Hope could see her. 

“Ow,” Josie grumbled, rubbing her shoulder. It was so weird how she could feel everything around her when her body was still physically in her room.

“Are you ready?” Lizzie was asking Hope. 

“I guess,” Hope said, “I’m still kind of worried though. I’m nowhere near as good at this as Josie was. I’m absolutely going to mess it up.”  _ No you won’t, _ Josie thought. Hope was going to do great, she knew it. Lizzie gave Hope’s shoulder a comforting squeeze and said,

“You’re gonna be fine.” The music to the overture started, “I gotta get going. Remember, your first cue is when Ronnie goes on stage,” she said, pointing to the boy Hope had to go on with. Hope nodded, and Lizzie went back to Josie.

“C’mon, I’ve got an idea to keep you with me,” she said. She took Josie’s hand and pulled her towards the stage. The lights were still off, so Josie was able to go on the stage with Lizzie, and did as she was told when Lizzie told her to get under a bent piece of wood at the bottom. It wasn’t as comfortable as Josie would have wanted, but it kept her in good range of the crystal without being seen. The lights came up from the stage, and Josie listened as Lizzie and Rafael sang the song. Lizzie actually wasn’t doing a bad job, so Josie had no idea why her sister had been so against auditioning at the start. She didn’t hit every note perfectly, but that definitely could have been due to the minimal amount of practice. 

Raf and Lizzie finished their song, and Josie listened as the music changed in tempo. She could feel the weight on the scaffolding increase as the chorus members piled on for the first big number. Carrying the Banner was rough, she hoped it looked good. All she could see from her spot was everything in front of the scaffolding, which she didn’t mind, since that meant she could see Hope in this scene. A few minutes passed, and she came in, hand in hand with Robbie. Josie could see Rebekah smiling big from her spot, and watched her laugh after Rafael’s-as Jack- failed attempt to flirt. 

“Here’s a headline for you,” Hope said, “Cheeky boy gets nothing for his troubles.” Josie laughed with the audience for her line, but stopped immediately as Hope’s gaze flitted towards her spot.  _ Shit, had she heard her? _ If she had, she didn’t show it, because she just continued with the scene. When it ended, the lights went down as the scene changed. The crew was pushing on the set for Pulitzer’s office while Josie waited for Lizzie to come down the scaffolding. Once she did, Lizzie helped Josie out of hiding and took her backstage, hiding her behind the same camera as Hope came back.

“You did great!” Lizzie told her.

“Thanks,” Hope said, “Um, quick question but uh, is Josie here?”  _ Crap, she  _ had _ heard. _

“No,” Lizzie said, “Josie’s sick, she’s at home.” That technically wasn’t a lie. Physically Josie was at home, lying in bed in the same embarrassing pajamas she was currently wearing. She could imagine the laugh Hope would get out of Josie’s Piglet from  _ Winnie the Pooh _ T-shirt and accompanying piglet pants. At least no one had seen her yet. “Why do you ask?”

“It was weird, but I thought I heard her on stage,” Hope said, “I guess I was imagining it.”

“I think you just miss her,” Lizzie said, “You wish she was here, so you made that up.”

“Yeah, that was probably it,” Hope said, “I’m gonna run over my lines for my next scene. Great job out there.” Hope left Lizzie to practice her lines, and Lizzie went back to Josie.

“Be a little more quiet next time, would you?”

“Sorry,” Josie said. She shrunk behind the camera when Hope came back, and stayed pressed against the wall during the next couple of scenes, only coming out when Hope was back on stage. She was sitting on the top of the scaffolding, pretending to write an article, though it looked more like she was drawing. Josie wondered if she was actually drawing a picture up there. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was. She watched the scene with Raf closely, and was given a surprise when she realized that Hope was doing the scene a lot better than Josie had. There had always been a twinge of awkwardness between Josie and Rafael that Hope just didn’t have with him. Interesting. The scene ended, and Josie was back to squeezing herself under the scaffolding as Lizzie had to return to stage. This was gonna be a long night.

Hope had just finished  _ Watch What Happens, _ and Josie officially decided that she would be using astral projection to watch the show tomorrow. That had been so good! She was so glad Lizzie wasn’t on stage during that song so she could watch from the side. Seeing all the little quirks Hope had added, and her little squeal after the first chorus-ugh, Josie was in love. Seize the Day was soon which meant the camera she’d been hiding behind had to be moved soon, so she’d positioned herself behind some stage cubes that Lizzie was sitting on to keep their close distance.

“How are you holding up?” Lizzie asked her.

“Fine,” Josie said, “I’m hungry though. Mom left me money to order dinner, but I forgot to. Are there any snacks back here?”

“Nope,” Lizzie said, “Just hang in there, it’s almost intermission. Maybe you can eat then. But right now, we gotta go.” Lizzie dragged Josie back to her spot under the scaffolding, and Josie bopped along to Seize the Day. She loved that song! Hope came on stage for her short bit to shoot the “picture” of the newsboys, and the scene transitioned to the riot. That was where things got messy. The scene ended with Crutchie getting arrested and dragged off the stage, and Josie thought Lizzie would be dragged stage right, which was where she was, but instead she got dragged stage left, effectively putting more than thirty feet of distance between the sisters.

“Oh dammit,” Josie said. She lost her senses again, and when they came back, she was on her bed.  _ Crap. _ Josie picked up her phone and opened it up to text Lizzie, deleting the text she’d been sending before she’d ended up at the school.

“Lizzie, we lost the connection. Can you do the spell again?” she texted. There was no response for a while, and Josie’s anxiety returned. What if Lizzie couldn’t do it again, or Hope caught her? Ugh, Lizzie was barely in Act Two, which meant Josie could have watched all of Hope’s scenes! So unfair. She heard her phone buzz, and got excited, only to see that it was her Mom.

“Hey baby, intermission just started, so I’m checking in. How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Josie answered simply, not in the mood to be fancy.

“Hope is doing a great job,” her Mom responded, clearly not sensing the fact that Josie did not want to talk, “Rebekah’s recorded all of her scenes to send to you.”

“Great,” Josie said. At least she’d still be able to see Hope. Then maybe tomorrow she’d stay on the other side of the scaffolding during the riot scene. Or maybe, they could just do the spell during intermission. Yeah, they could do that. After a few minutes passed, Josie had given up on Lizzie doing the spell, so she turned her TV on to watch something. She was halfway through a penguin documentary on the nature channel when she lost her senses again and found herself backstage. She was behind the back curtain, so she was closer to the scaffolding without being on stage. The only downside was that she couldn’t really see anything. But she could hear. Hope and Rafael were talking. And it was a very familiar scene. She knew it like the back of her hand.

“My father has eyes on every corner of the city. He doesn’t need anyone spying for him. And I never lied. I didn’t tell you everything…” Hope said. Josie had really missed a lot of the act. They were almost at the Jack and Katherine duet.

“If you weren’t a girl, you’d be trying to talk with a fist in your mouth.” Rafael said. 

“I said that I worked for the  _ Sun _ , and I did. I told you my professional name was Plumber, and it is. You never asked my real one.” Josie remembered running this scene with Hope. She’d done well as Jack, but her Katherine was amazing.

“I wouldn’t think I had to unless I knew I was dealing with a backstabber!” 

“And if I was a boy, you’d be looking at me through one swollen eye!” Hope said. Josie could see her shadow through the curtain, and watched her make the same fist Josie had when they’d first run the scene. Rafael was getting closer to her.  _ Don’t let that stop ya! Give it your best shot! _ That was the next line, then they would kiss. But the line never came. In fact, Josie watched in shock as Rafael ran off the stage. What the hell was he doing? She followed him backstage, and saw him talking with Lizzie.

“Where is she?” he was asking.  _ She? _ Lizzie looked around for a bit, but then her eyes locked on Josie. She pulled Rafael with her and said,

“There you are. Ugh, you didn’t change...um, Raf, give her the vest too.”

“Cool,” he said, unbuttoning the vest on his costume. He handed it to Josie, who felt kind of frozen, so Lizzie said, 

“Put it on!” 

“Oh okay,” Josie said. The vest was huge on her, but at least it covered Piglet. As she buttoned it, she yelped as Lizzie pulled her phone from her pants pocket.

“What’s your passcode?” she asked.  _ 050212 _ , Josie thought. But she didn’t want Lizzie to know that she’d used Hope’s birthday, so she just took her phone and typed it in.

“Why did you need my password?” she asked.

“I’m texting Mom that you really need her and Dad right now,” Lizzie said. 

“Wait, why?” Josie asked, but she got no answer. Instead, Rafael took his hat off and placed it on Josie’s head.  _ What was happening? _ Lizzie finished texting and said,

“They should be on their way out right about now. Oh Raf, here’s the mic.” She handed Rafael a small face mic, and he handed it to Josie.

“You can just put it over your ear, it stays on,” he said.

“That’s great and all, but before I do that would either of you like to tell me what the hell is going on?” Josie snapped at them.

“You’re gonna go on stage and sing the song,” Rafael said.

“Huh?” Josie asked.

“We knew you were so bummed about not being able to perform on Opening Night, and after we lost connection during intermission, I explained what happened to Rafael, and since you aren’t actually here, he came up with the idea, of you singing a song with Hope, and it was originally going to be the  _ Watch What Happens _ reprise, but I couldn’t get the spell to work, so now you’re gonna do  _ Something to Believe In. _ This works out in the end because you know the words better.”

“You guys I can’t go out there like this,” Josie said, gesturing to her outfit, “Plus, I’m totally throwing Hope a curveball. I don’t wanna stress her out.”

“You being here isn’t gonna stress her out,” Lizzie said.  _ It’s stressing me out! _ Josie thought. The music had started, and she listened to Hope sing. She sounded beautiful.

“Come on,” Lizzie said, “You gotta do it.” Josie bit her lip. She hadn’t been expecting to get on the stage today, but she felt ready. Her throat was mostly cleared up, plus she wasn’t physically here, so in the rare chance she was contagious, no one would get sick. Plus, her parents had left, so there was no reason to be afraid. Nothing was in her way.

“Okay,” Josie said, “I’ll do it.” She straightened her hat, put the mic over her ear, then made sure it was turned on. She walked to the stage where Hope was just at the end of her verse. The music was changing, and Josie knew it was Raf’s-well, now she guessed her-cue. She looked into the audience and saw that her Mom and Dad weren’t in their seats. She had just enough time to finish the song before they got home. She could do this. She took a breath, and walked onto the stage. She climbed up onto the scaffolding, making sure to stay close to Lizzie, who was crawling into the spot that Josie had been hiding in during Act One. She made it to the top of the scaffolding, and could see the surprise in Hope’s face. That, and the smile she was trying so hard not to form at the sight of Josie’s piglet pants. The music dipped, and Josie knew it was her turn to sing.

“We was never meant to meet, and then we meet. Who knows why?” she sang, and because of her throat, her voice came out low and a little scratchy. It matched the music perfectly. She walked closer to her girlfriend, took her hand, and continued with, “One more stranger on the street. Just someone sweet passing by.” She gently twirled Hope around and pulled her close, “An angel come to save me, who didn’t even know she gave me something to believe in, for even a day. One day may be forever, but that’s okay, that’s okay. And if I’m gone tomorrow, what was ours still will be. I have something to believe in, now that I know you believed in me.” The music crescendoed, and Hope placed a hand on Josie’s cheek, and she sang with her,

“Do you know what I believe in? Look into my eyes and see.” And as the music reached an apex, Hope gently cupped Josie’s face before leaning in to kiss her. They pulled apart, and in a small murmur, Hope said,

“I love you so much, Josie Saltzman.”

“I love you too,” Josie said. She kissed Hope again as the music enveloped them both, and as they pulled apart, Hope laughed. “What?”

“It’s nothing...just, Piglet?”

“Shut up,” Josie said with a blush. The music continued, and they were able to finish the song. The audience cheered a lot, and it felt so good. She couldn’t wait to do this on Sunday. After it was over, Josie gave Hope one last kiss before going back to Lizzie and Raf. She turned the mic off and said, “You guys were right. That was...pretty great.”

“You’re welcome,” Rafael said, taking the vest and mic from Josie, “But you should be getting home. Your parents should be there soon.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Good luck on the rest, you guys have been doing great!”

“Thanks. I’ll see you on Sunday,” Rafael said. Josie gave him a hug goodbye, and went to Lizzie, who was pulling the crystal out of her bag. She murmured a small spell, and before she knew it, Josie was back in her bed, just as the door downstairs opened.

“Josie?” Caroline asked, “Where are you, honey?”

“Up here, Mom!” Josie called down to her. Her parents entered her room a few moments later, and Caroline asked,

“Baby what happened? What’s the matter?” Caroline asked. It was at that moment Josie realized she had no idea what to say to them. They were both looking at them with concern, so she had to think of something.

“Just that, I was really lonely,” Josie said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked to be left alone.”

“Aww, it’s okay,” Caroline said.

“Yeah,” Alaric added, “If you want us to stay next time, we’ll stay. There’s no reason to be embarrassed about it.” 

“Thanks you guys,” Josie said.

“How about we have our popcorn and a movie night while Dad goes to get your sister?” Caroline asked. Josie nodded and said,

“That sounds great,” Josie said. Her Dad gave her a kiss goodbye before heading out, and her Mom left to make the popcorn. Once they were both gone, she pulled her phone out, where she saw a text from Hope.

“About to do the finale. Rebekah says good job on the song. And she won’t rat you out to your parents. She’s feeling generous.” 

“Great,” Josie responded, “I don’t want to keep you from missing a cue, so I’ll call you after the show.” Josie sent the text and shut her phone up, just as her Mom came up with a bowl of popcorn.

“Did you get the movie set up?” she asked.

“Just about,” Josie said, even though she hadn’t started. She turned the TV on, and was switching to the library when Mom said,

“Hope did great tonight. Her Aunt made sure to get all the video for you to watch.”

“I can’t wait,” Josie said. Her Mom sat next to her and said,

“Yeah Rebekah said she was amazing, except there was one part in Act One where she totally tripped on one of her lines during a solo.”

“No she didn’t, she got every line perf-” Josie started, then immediately stopped when she realized what she was admitting, “I mean that’s what I heard from Lizzie, because, she said, and uh...how did you know? I was sure I was hidden!” 

“Well I didn’t for sure until you just confirmed it for me.”  _ Crap _ , “But when Bonnie saw that one of her astral projection crystals was gone, she got suspicious.”

“Damn,” Josie grumbled.

“She was actually impressed. She hadn’t planned on teaching you that until next year.”

“We didn’t do it perfectly. There was a whole thirty feet range thing…”

“Mmhm,” Caroline said. Josie blushed and asked,

“Am I in trouble?” Caroline bit her lip and said,

“I am going to let it slide just this once because all you wanted to do was watch your girlfriend, and you technically weren’t hurting anyone, but both you and your sister owe Aunt Bonnie an apology for taking her stuff, okay?”

“Yeah, I know,” Josie said, “But do you know what else I did?”

“What?”

“I sang a duet with Hope in front of everybody. It was so awesome!”

“Oh baby that’s amazing! Did anyone record it?”

“I think Rebekah did,” Josie said.

“I’ll have to get that from her then,” Caroline said. The hall phone started to ring. She sighed and said, “I’ll be right back. You can get the movie started, I’ll join you.”

“Okay Mom,” Josie said. She went to pick the movie, and as it started to play, she texted Hope asking for the video. She couldn’t wait to watch it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the play. One chapter left...


	29. Fooled Around and Fell in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope gives Josie a few surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought I'd shake things up and name this chapter after a non musical song hehe

Hope looked out at the long stretch of wood in front of her. She’d never ventured down this path before, but Rafael assured her it was safe. Rafael was stretching next to her, so she decided to join in. He said it helped him prepare.

“Where do your foster parents think you are during this?” Hope asked him as she leaned forward to touch her toes.

“MG’s house. He covers for me,” he said, “What about your Aunt?”

“Well, she knows about me,” Hope said, “And because of my pack, I don’t have to transform every full moon. Except my first of course.”

“How did that happen?” Hope shrugged.

“Something my Mom did when I was a baby. I’m not exactly sure how it worked, but I’m pretty grateful for it. These transformations aren’t the best.”

“No they are not,” Rafael. He finished stretching and said, “It’s getting close.”

“Yep,” Hope said, looking at the moon in the sky, “You ready?” Rafael nodded and said,

“I’m ready. Thank you for doing this with me.”

“Of course,” Hope said, “Nobody should have to do this alone. My only regret is that I couldn’t be here during your first one.”

“It’s all good,” he said, “All that matters is that you’re here now.” Hope nodded, and gave one last look to the moon. 

“It’s time,” she said, “Ready?” Rafael nodded. Hope felt the first bone break less than a minute later. She’d almost forgotten how bad it actually felt.

“Remember what I said,” Hope said a few moments later, “Let the pain in. All of it.” 

“This really sucks!” Rafael grunted as his arm snapped, but he listened. He stopped fighting it, and so did she. Then the night faded away.

Josie heard the howl from down the street. She watched from her window as the moon came up in the sky. She’d never noticed how bright it was when it was full. It was almost mesmerizing.

“Are you going to keep staring at the moon all night, or are you gonna pick a movie like you said you would?” Lizzie asked as she came in with some popcorn.

“I’m picking the movie,” Josie said. It had been two weeks since she’d been sick, and her Mom had finally decided to take the TV back down tomorrow, so she and Lizzie were enjoying their last night with it. She hopped on the bed and asked,

“Wanna watch Newsies? I’m feeling nostalgic.”

“Absolutely not,” Lizzie said, “If I hear those songs again, it’ll be too soon.” 

“Oh come on, you loved them,” Josie said, but decided to relent and not play a musical. She could tell they were driving Lizzie mad. She settled on  _ Guardians of the Galaxy _ instead. Besides musicals, it was her comfort movie. She absolutely loved Groot! 

“Ah yes, this is a good one,” Lizzie said as she took a handful of popcorn, “Are you busy tomorrow? I need to use the car all day to run errands.”

“I am, but Hope is picking me up,” Josie said, “She apparently has a special surprise for me.”

“Ooh, do tell,” Lizzie said.

“I would if I knew what she was planning. Hopefully it’s fun, she seems really excited,” Josie said, “Did she tell you anything?”

“Please, she and I only have a business relationship.” Josie laughed,

“Yeah right, she told me all about the mouse you murdered for me.”

“Exactly, so she could do the play. That’s business.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Josie said. In all honesty, it really warmed her heart to see Hope and Lizzie get along. Lizzie was her best friend, and Hope was the girl she loved. Them being friends had been one of the best things to come out of the year. 

“Oh this song is the best,” Lizzie said as  _ Come and Get Your Love _ started to play on the TV.

“I know, right,” Josie said. Hope had let her play it in the car on the way to the decade dance, and had requested it for her when they’d arrived. She wondered how much longer until the transition was over. Not that Josie didn’t mind just spending the night with her sister, but Hope had been really busy at school today so they hadn’t had much time to talk. They watched the movie for about an hour before Josie got a text. As she scrambled to read it, Lizzie snorted,

“Someone is desperate,” she said.

“Shut up,” Josie said. She opened the phone and smiled at the text from Hope.

“Just dropped Raf off at home. I’m going to turn in for the night, but I’ll be at your house at ten tomorrow morning. Don’t wear anything too fancy. I love you.” 

“Love you too,” Josie said, “Spare hint for tomorrow?” She added a little pouting emoji. All she got back was three dots.  _ Fine. _ She’d made Hope wait for the sledding, so this was only fair. She texted Hope goodnight, then snuggled with her sister to watch the rest of the movie. Peter and Gamora were dancing to that one song Josie was also quite fond of. She hummed along to the words as she ate her popcorn. She really did love this movie.

Josie walked outside in her simple jeans and T-shirt, and saw Hope attempting to be “cool” by sitting on the hood of her car. She looked cute though, she’d give her that. 

“Did you repaint?” she asked, looking at the sheen of the car.

“I did. Since I wasn’t allowed to use it for weeks, and Aunt Rebekah’s gotten a fondness for walking, it was mostly sitting in the garage, so I thought why not?”

“Nice nice,” Josie said, “Are you gonna tell me where we’re going now?”

“Nope,” Hope said, opening the door for her, “But you’ll like it. I’m excited!” Josie got into the car, and watched Hope plug her phone into the AUX.

“Pick whatever song you want,” Hope said, handing her the phone.

“Cool,” Josie said, picking Honey Honey from Mamma Mia. One day she would get Hope to admit that she liked that song! Hope didn’t say anything about Josie’s choice, but she could see the small smile on her face that she was trying and failing to hide. They were driving for a bit, and Josie had made it through half the soundtrack when she realized they were kind of going out of town.

“How much further?” she ended up asking.

“Not much,” Hope said, “Sorry, this is kind of a long way away.”

“It’s cool,” Josie said, glad they weren’t lost, “I was just wondering.” 

“We’ll be there soon,” Hope assured her. She exited the freeway, and took Josie down a backroad before pulling into a small ranch.

“What is this place?” Josie asked as Hope parked the car by a fence.

“It’s a ranch my Dad used to own. Aunt Rebekah will look after it from time to time, but it’s going to be mine once I’m an adult.”

“That’s so cool,” Josie exclaimed, looking at all the horses running around in the stable, “So you wanted to show me your horses? I love horses!” Best surprise ever!

“Not just show you the horses,” Hope said, picking up a helmet hanging from the side of one of the fences. She tossed it to Josie who narrowly caught it.

“Wait, you don’t mean…” Hope nodded excitedly, “Hope, I really don’t think-”

“I promised that I would take you to ride a Palomino one day, and today is the day,” Hope said, “C’mon, we’ll start slow. If you don’t like it, we’ll go home, okay?” Starting slow didn’t sound too bad. Plus, Hope had been nervous when Josie had taken her sledding, but she’d ended up enjoying that.

“Okay,” Josie said, “Why not?” Hope led her back and said,

“You can ride anyone you want, but Thunder is my favorite. She’s the first horse my Dad ever took me on when I was seven. She’s a little older, but she’s a lot of fun.” 

“Thunder it is,” Josie said. She put her helmet on, but she struggled to tighten it, so Hope helped her out, hitting it after for good measure.

“Feel good?” she asked.

“Totally,” Josie said, “I’m ready.” Hope unlocked Thunder’s stable and walked her out. As Hope put the saddle on her, Josie studied Thunder. She was a big tan horse, and she whinnied a bit as she walked with Hope.

“Thunder, this is Josie,” Hope said to the horse. Thunder turned to Josie and leaned her head in. Hope said, “You can pet her if you want.” Josie stretched her hands out and pet Thunder’s head. The horse was nice to her, and it eased Josie’s nerves a lot.

“I’ll ride with you at first, then you can go off on your own if you want,” Hope said, “You mount the horse like this.” She put her foot in one of the foot holds attached to the saddle, and climbed on, “See, easy. Just put your foot in the stirrup and climb up. Now you try.” She jumped off, and Josie frowned.

“I thought you were coming up with me,” she said.

“Oh I am,” Hope replied, “I just want you to be in the front. Plus, if you fall, I’ll be on the ground so I can catch you.” 

“Well that’s reassuring,” Josie said. She gently stroked Thunder’s side and whispered, “Please don’t let me embarrass myself.” She grabbed onto the saddle, and tried to pull herself up. She wasn’t as strong as Hope, so she just landed back on the ground.

“You almost got it,” Hope said, “Try again.” It took Josie three more tries before she was finally able to pull herself onto the horse.

“Victory!” she exclaimed happily. Hope, who’d been securing her own helmet on, said,

“Look at you go!” She pulled herself on to the horse behind Josie and said, “Okay, you’re gonna hold the reins like this. It’s what’ll keep you balanced.” She placed her hands on Josie’s, and she moved them to where she wanted. “Now pull on them gently to get her to go.” Josie pulled on the reins, and Thunder whinnied a bit, but stayed where she was.

“You’ve gotta use a little more force than that,” Hope said, “Don’t be scared. I’ve got you.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little nervous,” Josie said.

“Don’t apologize. You’re doing great. Now, try it again. I’ve got you, don’t worry.” Hope tightened her grip on Josie, and Josie went back to handling the reins.  _ Don’t let me down, Thunder _ , she thought. She pulled at them again, and Thunder broke into a trot.

“Hey, there you go!” Hope said proudly, “Keep it steady now, don’t let go.”

“Check me out,” Josie said happily, “I’m a rider!”

“Yeah you are,” Hope said, giving her a kiss on the cheek that made Josie blush. She’d been dating Hope for months, yet even the slightest amount of affection could still give her butterflies. She hoped that feeling never went away. They took a few laps around the stable, and Hope asked, “So, do you think you’re ready to go out of the stable?”

“I think so,” Josie said, “And...I think I’d like to go alone. Get to know Thunder a bit more.”

“Sounds good to me,” Hope said, “Stay on the trail, and I’ll catch up to you.” She climbed off the horse to open the gate, then stayed to watch as Josie pulled on the reins to lead Thunder out of the pen. She had made it a good distance on the trail when Hope caught up to her on a galloping horse.

“Slow down, girl,” she said as she approached Josie, “Sorry I took so long. How’s it been going with Thunder?”

“Good I think,” Josie said, “Right Thunder?” Thunder whinnied in response, “That’s good, right?” Hope nodded and said,

“Yep. Thunder likes you, I can tell. Hey, the trail is a circle. Up for a friendly race back?” She asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t be opposed. What do you think, Thunder?” Thunder whinnied, “Yeah, we’re down.”

“Cool, I’ll see you there,” Hope said. She pulled on the reins and was off.

“Not if I see you there first!” Josie called after her, “Come on, Thunder.” The horse whinnied excitedly before breaking out into a run to follow Hope. Riding a running horse was definitely more frightening, but also a lot more fun. She laughed as Thunder bounded down the track, in hot pursuit of Hope. She could see her and said, “Almost there, Thunder. Let’s get her!” They bounded after Hope, but didn’t end up passing her until right when they got to the stable. Once they were back in the pen, Josie gently tugged on the reins to stop Thunder from crashing through the fence.

“Good job Thunder,” Josie said, gently petting her mane. The horse gave Josie a small whinny, and as Josie hopped off, she allowed the horse to nuzzle with her, “Good girl.”

“That was amazing,” Hope said, “You did amazing.” The other girl locked the stable, then came back to Josie, “I’m gonna take that as you liked the surprise.”

“Liked it? I loved it!” Josie exclaimed, “Thank you for this. Really. I’m just a little sad right now because I don’t want it to end.”

“It doesn’t have to,” Hope said, “We could give them some water, I could show you how to feed them, then we could go out again. Sound good?”

“It sounds amazing,” Josie said.

“Great,” Hope said, “I’ll get the carrots. I’ll be right back.” Hope took off her helmet and walked off, with Josie watching, wondering what she could have done to get this lucky.

That night after dinner at the grille, Hope took Josie home with her, and asked her to wait in the living room when they got in.

“I’ve got one more surprise for you,” she said.

“Oh dear, I’m not sure if I can handle that,” Josie said.

“It’s another good one, I promise. Just give me one second.” She skipped up the stairs, and Josie relaxed against the couch. She loved Hope’s couch. It was so soft. She was reaching for the remote to turn on the TV when she heard Hope call,

“Close your eyes, I’m heading down!” 

“Okay!” Josie said. She abandoned the remote and leaned back, “They’re closed.” She waited for a few seconds as Hope came down the stairs. Eventually, she heard the other girl say,

“Okay, open.” Josie opened her eyes and saw Hope presenting something to her on a canvas. At first she thought it was just one of Hope’s many paintings, but then she realized…

“Is that me?” she asked. She stood up from the couch and went to look at the painting, which, sure enough was Josie as Katherine in the play.

“Do you like it?” Hope asked, “I’ve been working on it for a while, but I wasn’t ready to show it to you until now.”

“Hope, it’s beautiful,” Josie said. She turned to look at her girlfriend, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hope said, giving her a gentle kiss, which Josie returned. She moved Hope with her towards the couch, and let Hope press her against the soft fabric. Josie wanted to take it further, but they were both cut off by the door opening.

“Hope? Darling, are you here?” Rebekah asked.

“In the living room. With Josie,” Hope added as the two girls pulled apart. Josie smoothed down her hair as the older Mikaelson entered the living room, and put some distance between her and Hope so Rebekah wouldn’t get suspicious.

“It’s good to see you, Josie. How’ve you been feeling?”

“Great,” she said, “My voice is back to normal, and I’ve been back in school.”

“Lovely to hear,” Rebekah said, “Hope, may I speak to you for a second?”

“Anything you say to me, you can say to Josie,” Hope said, right as Josie was about to offer to excuse herself. Rebekah nodded slowly and said,

“Well alright. Josie, I suppose this actually concerns you, too.” Now that got Josie’s attention. Rebekah sat on the coffee table across from them and said, “I received a phone call from Marcel on my way home from work, and he might have some more information on what the Siennas wanted with Roman’s ring. He’s asking if I could go to New Orleans and help him figure it out.”

“Oh,” Hope said, “Did he say what he found out?”

“He would like to discuss it with me in person, but this may involve me having to go out of the city with him for a bit to investigate.” Hope frowned and asked,

“For how long?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “It kills me that I won’t be with you for the next few weeks, but your Aunts will be coming into town to stay for you.”

“Freya and Keelin are coming?” Hope asked, and Josie held in a smile at the excited look that came over Hope’s face. Rebekah nodded and said,

“Yes they are. Josie, this is where you come in. While I’m gone, the same rules apply for the two of you. Your doors stay open, got it?”

“Got it,” the two girls chorused.

“And I was also thinking that if this goes into the summer...if you two would like to join me. Hope, you’ll be coming along anyway, so Josie, I wanted to extend an invitation to you as well.”

“To come to New Orleans for the summer?” Josie asked, and Rebekah nodded. She could feel Hope growing excited beside her, so she said, “I mean, I’d have to talk to my parents, and I probably wouldn’t be able to stay for the whole time, but yeah, I’d be down.” 

“Excellent. If you would like me to talk to your parents as well, I can do that,” she said.

“Thanks Ms. Mikaelson,” she said. Rebekah gave her a soft smile and said,

“Josie, by now I hope you know that you can call me Rebekah.”  _ Oh. _ Josie actually didn’t know she was there yet with the older woman. Hope still called her parents Ms. Forbes and Principal Saltzman, so Ms. Mikaelson had always just made sense.

“Of course,” she said, “Thanks Rebekah.” The name felt weird on her tongue, but also felt right at the same time. She wasn’t sure how to explain it, but it just did.

“I’m going to get dinner started,” Rebekah said, getting up from the table, “Josie will you be joining us?” She shook her head and said,

“I’d love to, but Aunt Bonnie and Elena are coming over, and I promised I’d be there.”

“Next time, then,” Rebekah said, “Hope, come help me when you two are done.”

“Sure, Auntie Bex,” Hope said. Rebekah left the living room, and the two girls got up from the couch. As Josie slid her jacket back on, she said,

“I should be heading out. I’m gonna be late if I don’t leave now.”

“Okay,” Hope said, “I’ll call you after dinner.”

“Sounds good,” Josie said. She looked at the painting and asked,

“Hey, do you mind if I hold onto this? I would very much love a Hope Mikaelson original to hang on my wall.” Hope smiled and said,

“Sure, be my guest. Get ready to have a lot more by the time we’re done in New Orleans. I can already feel my creative juices flowing.”

“Oh I can’t wait to go back,” Josie said, “Considering this time you’ll probably be allowed to leave the compound, there’ll be so much for you to show me.”

“Indeed. The music, the art…I get jittery thinking about it,” Hope said as she walked Josie to the door, “Will you need a ride home?”

“No, I’ll be fine walking. It’s warmer today than usual.”

“Alright. Get home safe. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye, love you,” Josie said, giving Hope a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I love you too,” Hope said before opening the door. She waved goodbye, and Josie watched as Hope closed the door to join her Aunt. She then turned, held the painting close, and went home.

Josie was trying to jam all of her clothes in her suitcase when Lizzie came into the room, struggling to find her pink hairbrush.

“Check the vanity,” Josie said as she pushed the clothes down with her back, “Hey, do we have any bigger suitcases? This isn’t working.”

“Just take mine,” Lizzie said, “I won’t be needing it. I’m going to be staying home while you’re gone. I already have a whole itinerary planned.”

“I thought you and Mom were going to the lakehouse with Aunt Bonnie,” Josie said.

“We were going to, but Mom didn’t want to go without you, so…” Josie raised an eyebrow at her, “Alright, fine!  _ I _ didn’t want to go without you. How much longer until you’re back.”

“Thirty days,” Josie said, thinking of the wonderful June she was about to have with Hope. She would miss Lizzie though, but they could Facetime, or even astral project.

“Well, have fun, send pictures. I could use the content. Rafael is going out of town for the summer, so it’s going to be just me and MG. Hopefully we’ll find something to do for entertainment.”

“It’s MG, you’ll find something,” Josie said as she pulled Lizzie’s suitcase out of their shared closet. She started moving clothes and said, “Plus Mom and Dad are here. They’re not terrible company.”

“I suppose,” Lizzie said, “But it’s better with you.”

“Everything is better with me,” Josie said teasingly as she finished separating her clothes. She finished closing the suitcases and said, “I think that’s everything. Has Mom come to say goodbye yet?”

“She should be here soon. Dad’s waiting downstairs, though.”

“Cool,” Josie said. She took the suitcases downstairs, and saw her Dad in the kitchen, making some lunch for him and Lizzie. He put a peanut butter and jelly in a bag and handed it to her.

“For the drive,” he said, “I doubt blood will be that tasty.”

“Thanks Dad,” Josie said, taking it from him and putting it in her backpack. When she was done, her Dad gave her a big hug and said,

“Don’t go too crazy in New Orleans. If anyone offers you alcohol, say no.”

“Dad, I’ve been before. I think I’ll be fine. Plus, this is half work trip half vacation. Marcel and Rebekah are going to show us their research.” 

“While I’m sure you and your girlfriend plan to spend the next thirty days working, I’m still instigating some rules,” he said, “Don’t stay out past ten, keep your phone on at all times, and please try and call every day so I can hear your voice.”

“I got it, Dad,” Josie said, “But really? Ten? How about eleven?”

“Ten fifteen, take it or leave it.”

“Fine,” Josie said after a second. Her Mom came in a few moments later, holding a giant bag on her right arm.

“Oh there’s my baby,” she said, giving Josie the best hug she could around the bag. She handed it to Josie and said,

“Some gifts for Hope’s family to thank them, and some snacks for the road are in there. Be careful with the candy, too much will make you sick.”

“Thanks Mom,” Josie said. She took the bag, and nearly dropped it. It was so heavy!

“I’ll be waiting here the day you get back,” Caroline said, “Don’t hesitate to call us about anything, tell Hope the same. I sent her my number this morning.”

“Yeah, she saw. Mom, in the future can you not tell my girlfriend embarrassing childhood stories about me to break the ice? She’s been teasing me about the time I painted the entire living room with my water colors since last night.”

“For children’s paint, you’d think those stains would come out easier,” Alaric said.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Caroline said, “But c’mon, that story was hilarious.”

“It absolutely was not,” Josie said, and the three of them were getting into a smallish argument about it when Freya and Keelin rolled up in front of the house in their van.

“Ah look, my ride,” Josie said with relief.

“Elizabeth, come say goodbye to your sister!” Caroline called up the stairs while Josie hugged her Dad goodbye. Josie gave Caroline a hug as Lizzie came down, holding a cross body bag.

“For when you go out. It matches most of your dresses,” she said, handing her the yellow bag.

“Thanks sis,” Josie said, giving her one last hug. She got a text from Hope saying they were outside, so she said, “I gotta get going. Love you guys.”

“Love you, Jo,” Lizzie said, while Caroline went,

“Have lots of fun sweetie,” and Alaric said,

“Stay safe. Call when you get there!” Josie waved goodbye to her family, and took the two suitcases and giant bag outside. Hope probably saw her struggle, because she came out of the car to help Josie with her stuff and take it to the trunk. The two girls got in the backseat, where Josie exchanged pleasantries with Freya and Keelin. Keelin was definitely showing a lot more, which made sense since her due date was in about three months.

“You girls ready to go?” Freya asked, and they both nodded.

“Ready Aunt Freya,” Hope said. Freya put the car in drive, and Josie gave one last goodbye to her family as the car pulled out of the neighborhood. Once they were on the main road, Josie rested her head on Hope’s shoulder, and let the girl hold her as they drove together into the glorious summertime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this story over the past few months! I had so much fun writing it and I hoped everyone enjoyed it. I will be writing more Hosie stores in the future. I also made a twitter! (@wandashosie). Follow for updates on future fics hehe. Stay safe out there and keep reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, hope you're enjoying so far. Please leave comments to let me know how I'm doing. Next chapter should be up in a few days!


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